Night Of The Wolf
by VVSINGOFTHECROSS
Summary: What if Robb had a brother he could send north to deal with the Ironborn? What if the Tyrells plan to marry Sansa to Willas had been successful? How would this effect events in Westeros? Edwyn Stark( OC)
1. Chapter 1

**The Twins**

As Edwyn caught sight of the twin towers that gave the home of the Lord of The Crossing its name, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The force of 5000 men that his brother King Robb had entrusted him with to help defeat the Ironborn forces in the north, had been marching for a week now and were beginning to feel rather tired and restless.

When news had reached the northern forces camped at Riverrun about the Ironborn invasion of the north, many opinions had been voiced but ultimately it was decided that Edwyn would be leading a force of 5000 men accompanied by Lady Maege Mormont, Lord Galbart Glover and Ser Perwyn Frey, to relieve the north of the Ironborn scum. When Edwyn had asked his brother why he specifically had been chosen to lead the relief effort, Robb had turned to him and said "I trust no one more than you brother, to get those iron bastards out of our home." Edwyn could tell though that Robb was worrying about whether or not his decisions to send Theon back to the Iron Islands had not been a huge mistake or not.

Edwyn was taken out of his reverie, by the sight of Lame Lothar Frey marching out to greet them. Edwyn quickly stole a glance at Perwyn who nodded encouragingly, before turning back to face and speak with Lothar Frey. "Good morrow my friend, we have come from Riverrun to cross the bridge so we may march north to rid our home of the Ironborn scum that infest it."

Edwyn finished speaking and waited for Lothar to speak expecting him to present some sort of terms from Lord Walder, and was not surprised when Lothar said "Good morrow my prince, we would be delighted to assist you in any way we can in removing the Ironborn from your home, but my father would like it you would be so kind as to stay a few days so that you can choose a bride for yourself as per terms of our prior agreement."

Edwyn had been warned by his mother that Lord Walder might ask him something like this, so he put on his most winning smile and said "Why of course my friend it would be no trouble whatsoever."

Lothar reciprocated Edwyn's smile and said "Come then and follow me."

And so as Edwyn and his companions dismounted, and gave their horses to the stable hands that had appeared they followed Lame Lothar into the Twins, with Edwyn's grey and black direwolf Storm following close behind.

Their party was relatively quiet until they were led into the main hall of the Twins, where Lord Walder was sat on his throne. Lord Walder looked up at the sound of the doors of the Great Hall closing, and had what Edwyn thought was his attempt at a friendly smile, something that was reinforced when he said "Ah my prince, so nice to see you again, to what do I owe the pleasure? Ah yeas of course Ironborn scum raiding your homelands aren't they? Suppose you need to make use of my bridge now then don't you? Hmmm yes well can't have a prince here without having a wedding now can we?" With that Lord Walder clapped his hands together and suddenly out of seemingly thin air all of his daughters and granddaughters appeared in the hall all wearing their best dresses and looking all done up. Edwyn realised that Lord Walder must have expected him to come and must have had this all prepared.

Remembering the warning his mother had said to him, Edwyn asked for bread and salt thus invoking the guest right and protection for himself and the men and lady who had followed him into the hall. Once these had been given, Edwyn thought that he might as well get on with finding a wife for himself and began walking up and down the hall looking at the girls who were being presented to him. Some of them were tall, some small, some skinny, some fat, some robust, others flat chested, some pretty, many weasel haired. Edwyn began to despair until he was stood in front of one girl who was slightly shorter than him, with curly brown hair and green eyes and a rather attractive face and body. Edwyn asked her name and when she replied "Minisa your grace." Edwyn found himself curious, and began asking Minisa various questions such as what she liked to do, whether or not she liked to sing and dance, whether someone else held her heart. As far as he could tell she answered truthfully to all of his questions and when she said that no one else held her heart, Edwyn decided that she was to be his bride. Turning round to face Lord Walder who had been watching proceedings with those weasel eyes of his Edwyn said in a clear and confident voice "My Lord, I thank you for your hospitality and for allowing me to see and talk with your fine daughters and granddaughters, I have chosen Lady Minisa for my bride."

Edwyn was relieved to see a look of satisfaction pass over Lord Walder's face and when the old man said "Very good your grace, we shall have a wedding feast tonight to celebrate this marriage, and shall allow you sometime today to get to know your bride eh. For I trust you do not want to wait too long before marching north?"

Edwyn could simply nod his head, and then giving his arm to Lady Minisa, walked out of the hall followed closely by Lady Maege, Lord Galbart and Ser Perwyn. The time he spent talking with Lady Minisa seemed to fly by and before he knew it, he was getting ready for his wedding, as he stood in front of the Septon in the Sept at the Twins waiting for his bride to walk in, Edwyn's only regret was that this marriage was happening during a time of war, he would have liked some time to get to know his bride beforehand, but then again he supposed those few hours he had had in the day would have to suffice. His breath caught when Minisa walked down the altar of the sept towards him on her father's arm, she looked like a vision all in grey, with her hair done up in those braids that Sansa had liked so much.

As she came to stand next to him in the sept, she gave him a weak smile which he tried to return to try and sooth his nerves as much as hers. As they recited their vows, Edwyn thought of the battle that he had fought, the Battle of Whispering Wood where he had managed to somehow disarm Jamie Lannister and the battles yet to come, and how he truly wished that they could all just bugger off and let him and his family alone so that they could all return back to Winterfell, Him, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Jon, Mother and Father back in Winterfell with Bran and Rickon. He was brought back to the real world when he heard himself and Minisa say "And With This Kiss I Pledge My Love." Bending down, he put lips to hers and kissed her deeply for the whole congregation to see, and then pulled away so that they could both breathe.

He heard cheering and felt people patting him on the pack as he walked to the Great Hall with his with Minisa Frey-now Stark- on his arm. As they got to the hall, and were seated Lord Walder stood up and said "Your Grace, I am so happy that I have lived to see the day where our two great houses have been joined in marriage, I look forward to seeing your brother wed to another Frey very shortly. To Prince Edwyn and Princess Minisa Stark! To The King In the North!" After that toast was met by a deafening roar and a quick drink of wine, the proper eating began, Edwyn soon found himself eating course after course of food, and soon found that he could not eat anymore. Taking a drink from his cup he turned to talk to his wife, and began asking her how she felt and what she was thinking when the musicians began to play and Edwyn found himself being led by his wife to the dance floor, to lead the dancing. After dancing for what seemed like an age, Edwyn returned to the high table and took a deep drink from his cup, looking out at the hall and seeing his wife laughing with her brothers and various northerners Edwyn felt a pang in his chest wishing that Sansa and Arya could be here as well.

Soon though all the dancing stopped as Lord Walder hit a spoon against his cup and turned to Edwyn and said "Your Grace, some vows have been said, food has been eaten, but I don't think that this marriage is truly a marriage unless there's a bedding. What say you my prince?"

Edwyn got up and replied "My Lord I would be happy to comply if my lovely wife would care to join me!" Which was met by a deafening roar of approval, and soon Edwyn found himself being hoisted up in the air by several Frey women, and being carried off toward a bedchamber.

**Moat Catlin**

Victarion Greyjoy Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet plunged his sword into the heart of some Northern bastard and grimaced. This land fighting was hard work; the northerners left to defend the Moat had not been expecting this attack which had played into Victarion's hands as had the fact that they had sailed up the Saltspear and struck out from the West, thus preventing them from falling into the bog devils' traps.

Victarion continued to plunge his sword in and out of northmen and found himself wondering how his niece and nephew were doing, his brother Balon had sent Asha to capture Deepwood Motte, whilst Theon had been sent to go raiding across the Stony Shore. Victarion hoped that Theon's time spent with the Greenlanders had not softened him too much and that he would be able to fight these northerners, he would need to prove himself on this mission if he were to ever get back into Balon's good books.

As Victarion cut his way through more northmen, he heard one of his crewmen say "Lord Victarion, we've captured the Drunkard and the Children's Tower."

"Good" Victarion shouted, "Continue fighting we have to capture the Gatehouse Tower if we want to keep hold of this place."

He continued to cut and kill northmen and saw them falling like flies around him. The Young Wolf had seriously underestimated how defenceable his home was, and his trust in Theon was startling. Victarion though had no more time to spend dwelling on the mistakes of the Young Wolf as he soon found himself at the foot of the Gatehouse Tower. Bellowing for some men to follow him, he ran up the stairs of the tower, cutting through whatever northmen were stationed on it, and soon found himself at the top of the tower overlooking the other two towers and the surrounding area. He shouted down to the ground "Are there any northerners left?"

The replying "No!" was confirmation enough for Victarion. They had captured Moat Catlin, as he raised the Kraken Banner of House Greyjoy over the Gatehouse Tower Victarion felt a sense of achievement, they had effectively blocked any chance of the Young Wolf trying to march home, now if someone could get Winterfell...

**The Twins**

As Edwyn saddled his horse, he took one last look at the Twins, his wedding night had come and gone, he had wedded and bedded his wife and he just turned five and ten. It was a startling fact, one which he had just about managed to wrap his head round.

The reason for their early departure from the Twins as Edwyn had had to explain to his wife that morning when she appeared most distressed, was because they had received a raven from Lord Howland from Greywater Watch telling them of the fall of Moat Catilin to the Ironborn and therefore Edwyn and his men were needed north if they wished to come back and end this war.

Lord Walder had seemed to understand the situation plain enough when Edwyn had had to explain it to him this morning. He had simply said "Very well your grace, defeat the Ironborn and hurry back soon."

So as Edwyn mounted his horse and signalled for his men to begin the long march to take back Moat Catilin, he could only hope that they were successful, for Robb, for Minisa, for Sansa, for Arya and for mother.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Neck**

Edwyn and the 5000 men that he was leading had arrived in the Neck some three days ago, after setting out from the Twins a week ago. Upon their arrival at the Neck they had been greeted by the mysterious Howland Reed, Lord of Greywater Watch. As a boy, Edwyn had heard several stories about Lord Howland from his father, one in particular had peaked his interest but now was not the time to ask about the truths behind stories. They had a castle to free.

Lord Howland had told them that he and his fellow cranongmen had managed to make the Ironborn's stay at the Moat a living hell, taking down any patrols that came near the neck and planting traps just outside the castle grounds in the night and waiting for the Ironborn to fall into them of which several had. Lord Howland guessed that the Ironborn who were being led by Victarion Greyjoy at atleast 500 men maybe more holed up in Moat Catilin. When Lord Howland had said that a collective sigh had been heard throughout the camp, it would have been difficult trying to take the Moat and not sustain heavy casualties had the Ironborn had only 100 men, but 500? The Northern forces were likely to be greatly hit.

However, whatever doubts Edwyn had had, had been washed away when Lord Howland had told him that the cranongmen knew some secret pathways that would allow the northern forces to surround the moat, and leave the Ironborn no possible way to escape. It was for that reason that Edwyn currently found himself crouched knee deep in mud and gods alone knew what else, waiting for Lady Maege to give the signal. Turning to his left he looked at Perwyn who had a slight grimace on his face, Edwyn said "Cheer up Perwyn, once we've smashed these Ironborn bastards, we can relax for a little while with a nice cup of ale."

Perwyn only grimaced more and said "Ah bugger that Ed, I'll still be stinking of shit in three weeks after this, your plan had better work!"

**Aye it better** Edwyn thought a lot was riding on this plan working, the fact that the northern host had been divided into two sections one led by himself and Perwyn, and the other led by Lady Maege and Lord Galbart both on the Western and Eastern sides of the Moat, meant that should the plan fail they'd be butchered before they could truly mount an assault. Lord Howland had some 500 cranongmen near where the Ironborn had left their ships on the Fever River ready to burn the ships should the battle be looking like it was lost.

Edwyn had no time to think about anything more, for he heard the sound of horn blasts coming from the eastern side of the Moat, the signal for the attack to begin. Jumping out of the bogs with Perwyn, Edwyn roared a battle cry, and began to charge.

He managed to dodge plenty of arrows that came flying his way, and saw with some relief that his own archers were making short work of the Ironborn archers. Soon Edwyn found himself near the entrance to the Drunkard's Tower, cutting his way past the two Ironborn guards at the entrance, Edwyn soon ran up the stairs cutting and hacking down any Ironborn stupid enough to come at him through the narrow stair case. The adrenaline of the battle was coursing through his veins, he didn't seem to need to stop like he had at Whispering Wood, instead he continued hacking and slashing his way to the top of the stair case where he found himself going head to head with one of the biggest and ugliest men he had ever seen. The man slashed at him, Edwyn managed to parry the man's swing, and began to walk around the man trying to tire him out as he continued swinging and missing, eventually the man stopped swinging to try and catch his breath, and Edwyn struck then, going for a furious assault that ended with his sword plunged deep into the man's chest. Pulling his sword out, he was met by a splatter of blood flying from a gaping hole in the man's chest before he quickly managed to step backward before the man fell and crushed him. Edwyn went and looked out of the Drunkard's Tower and saw battle on the ground of the Moat, but he noticed that there was a direwolf banner flying in on the Children's Tower, so he quickly hoisted a direwolf banner onto the Drunkard's Tower and then proceeded to run down the stairs all the while calling for his direwolf Storm to join him. He found Storm at the bottom of the entrance to the Drunkard's Tower with a bloody muzzle and three dead Ironborn at his feet, patting Storm on the head, Edwyn ran toward the Gatehouse Tower, shouting for Perwyn who he had just seen to join him.

Arriving at the foot of the Gatehouse Tower, Edwyn saw various bodies littering the entrance, men with various northern sigils on their armour were lying unseeing on the ground next to men with the kraken of house Greyjoy on their armour. Edwyn ran up the stairwell followed by Storm and Perwyn, and reached the top of the stairwell to find Victarion Greyjoy the Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet battling Lord Glover, it appeared that Greyjoy was getting the better of Lord Glover for, Glover appeared to be very bloody. Sensing that Greyjoy would likely kill Lord Glover unless he did something he looked at Storm, then looked at Greyjoy, it appeared that Storm got the message for he was soon jumping onto Greyjoy's back biting him, whilst Edwyn and Perwyn ran to check on Lord Glover. Edwyn sent Perwyn and Lord Glover down the stairs and called Storm of Greyjoy, if Greyjoy was to die, Edwyn wanted to be the man to do it.

It seemed Greyjoy shared a similar thought for he said "Finally decided to be man enough and fight me eh Greenlander? Not going to get your wolf to do your dirty work?"

Edwyn simply spat back "No, I don't need anybody to do my killing, just like I don't need anybody to be gone before I conquer their homes. You Ironborn are scum. We offered you Casterly Rock and you pay us back by raiding our homes, Ha paying the Iron price my ass."

It seemed Edwyn's little speech had done the trick, as Greyjoy seemed incensed and charged at Edwyn swinging his sword wildly. Edwyn just about managed to duck the swing, and managed to bring his own sword up to knick the iron bastard in the arm. They were soon exchanging swings and blows, with mixed success sometimes Edwyn would manage to get a hit onto Greyjoy's armour and dent it, sometimes Greyjoy would do the same to Edwyn, other times they would hear the clanging of steel on steel.

Edwyn could tell that Greyjoy was getting tired though, he must be for Edwyn certainly was. Both of their blows lacked strength, but soon enough Edwyn managed to knock Greyjoy's sword out of his hand and had his sword pointed at Greyjoy's throat.

Greyjoy simply looked at the sword before saying "Do it Greenlander, end this now. Take my life and pay the iron price."

Edwyn obliged the man and swung his sword in an arc before cleaving Victarion Greyjoy in half down the face and stopping at his stomach. Just as the two halves of Victarion Greyjoy fell onto the ground, Lord Howland, Lord Glover, Lady Maege and Ser Perwyn came running up the stairs of the Gatehouse Tower and saw much to their surprise their prince standing with his sword still drawn, over the body of the dead Victarion Greyjoy.

Edwyn was still in a state of shock but still managed to say "My Lords my lady, hoist the direwolf banner over this tower. We have the Moat."

They all bowed and did as they were bid, and Edwyn had the brief recollection afterwards of the men he had led shouting "THE KING IN THE NORTH! PRINCE EDWYN STARK!" Though he couldn't be too sure.

**The Stony Shore**

Theon Greyjoy sat aboard the Sea Bitch, and simmered. Here he was a Prince of the Iron Isles a man who had fought at the Battle of the Whispering Wood, a man who knew the north almost as well as any Stark or northerner could and what had his father asked him to do? Raid fishing villages along the Stony Shore, whilst his uncle Victarion held the Moat and his sister Asha raided along the coast close to Deepwood Motte, he was stuck raiding fishing villages doing what most Ironborn do when they still think their cocks are for pissing.

No he was done with that, he was done with raiding and raping he wanted glory. He knew the only way that the Ironborn were ever going to truly consolidate their hold on the North was if they held Winterfell and to get Winterfell they would need a distraction.

Turning to his companion Dagmar Cleftjaw, Theon said "Uncle, I have a proposition for you."

Dagmar never one to shy away from a challenge perked up at Theon's words and said "And what would that be Theon?"

Theon decided to cut straight to the point "Whilst my sister and uncle piss around holding different parts of the north, I want to hold the heart of the north. I want capture Winterfell."

Dagmar was speechless he knew that Theon was brave and daring, he'd proved that back on Pyke, but this? This sounded stupid, but he had to hear the boy out first. "And how do you propose to do that Theon?"

Theon smirked and said "Well uncle, since I did spend the past nine years in this god forsaken ice tundra, I happen to know a thing or two about its defences. At present the bulk of the north's forces are with Robb Stark in the south, and those that are with his brother Edwyn will be held off at the Moat so shouldn't be too much problem. That means that there are only greybeards and green boys left to defend Winterfell. What I propose is that you go with around 400 of our men here and seize Torrhen's Square now as we have already killed Benfred Tallhart and his men, if you capture the Square, the old fart who's a Lord there will write Winterfell for help, that should draw out whatever men are left to defend it and bring them to the Square. Meanwhile I will go with twenty of our finest men and seize Winterfell at night whilst its defences are low. Whoever comes to help at the Square will be caught between Ironborn at the Square and Ironborn in Winterfell and I shall write to Asha tonight to ask her to send reinforcements to Winterfell, once I have taken it. What do you think uncle?"

Dagmar could see the hope in Theon's eyes, and he did have to admit the plan did seem a reasonable one, why not he thought, I'm not getting any younger, so he replied "When do you want me to leave for Torrhen's Square?"

Theon's grin got even bigger as he said "Tonight."

**Winterfell**

Bran Stark, Prince of the North and Lord of Winterfell whilst his brothers Robb and Edwyn were away, woke up with a start. Looking around as the dreams slowly went away and he came back to reality, he felt his heart beat racing, surely what he had seen couldn't be true after all how could the sea come to Winterfell? Winterfell was nowhere close to the sea.

**Ashenmark**

As Robb Stark went to sleep in his tent after a successful day's raiding of the Westerlands he thought on many things. Firstly was how Bran and Rickon were doing in Winterfell he felt guilty about leaving them there for so long without mother, but he reasoned to himself that he needed mother more than they did at the moment, he needed her to negotiate with Renly if they wanted to successfully march on King's Landing and free Sansa and Arya. That made him wonder how mother was and where she was, had she met with Renly yet? How had her negotiations gone? He then thought on his brother Edwyn, whom he'd sent north to fight the Ironborn and make up for his mistake in trusting Theon, thought Robb refused to believe that Theon would turn his back completely on him. He also wondered how his brother felt as a married man, and whether or not he liked his Frey wife and whether or not he had any recommendations for what to look for in one. As Robb drifted off to sleep he dreamed of happier times.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Barrowlands**

It was cold, Edwyn could admit as much, so very, very cold. It was almost as if his house words had come to life and winter had truly come. Good, he thought, let winter come for the Ironborn and the bloody Lannisters, let winter come for them and let them know never to mess with the North ever again. At present Edwyn and his 4000 men were marching to help relieve Torrhen's Square which had been attacked by Ironborn, three days ago the raven had come, and for three days they had been marching. Edwyn had left 600 men at Moat Catilin under the leadership of Howland Reed to help defend it from anymore potential threats, of which Edwyn thought there would be few considering that the entire Ironborn host under Victarion Greyjoy had been killed during the battle and all of their ships in the Fever River set to the torch.

Edwyn could see the outline of Torrhen's Square in the distance, but couldn't hear the sounds of any battle, that concerned him. Surely the Ironborn hadn't been successful in taking the castle had they? If they had, had Winterfell sent men to aid the men at Torrhen's Square, Edwyn was sure they would have, so why couldn't he hear any sounds of commotion coming from the square?

His concern must have been showing on his face for Lady Maege turned to him and said "I'm sure nothing is amiss your grace, Torrhen's Square is nigh on impenetrable and even if those Ironborn scum have taken it we will be able to outnumber by a large amount.. So they shouldn't pose too much of a threat."

Edwyn grunted and then replied "Aye that is true my lady, but wasn't Moat Catilin meant to be impenetrable as well? And yet Ironborn scum managed to capture it and butcher the men my brother left to hold it. No, I have a very deep suspicion about what is actually happening at the square it appears to quiet for my liking. No northerner would be so quiet if some Ironborn bastard was invading their homes."

Lady Maege replied "As you say your grace." Before she rode on.

Edwyn found his thoughts turning south toward the Riverlands; he wondered how Robb was getting on. Had he managed to smash the Lannisters in battle again? Before Edwyn had left for the Twins, Robb had been preparing for an invasion of the Westerlands and had been debating whom to send to treat with King Renly; Edwyn wondered how that was all going. He knew that if Robb was successful in the Westerlands that that would strike a major blow to the heart of the Lannister campaign particularly if Robb managed to take Casterly Rock. If he managed to do that then Renly and Stannis would have to join with Robb and march on King's Landing as the Lannisters would have lost their base of power. Then they could get Sansa and Arya back.

Edwyn knew that Lord Bolton had taken Harrenhal, that had been in a raven that he'd received from Riverrun whilst still at Moat Catilin, that was good they were moving closer and closer toward the capital and cutting the Lannisters off from their chain of supplies. The only thing about their progress that worried Edwyn was that he was sure that blonde haired shit who called himself a king would probably take out all of his frustration on Sansa, and if he did, Edwyn would make sure that he paid dearly for it.

He was taken out of his reverie however, by the sounds of steel on steel and the sounds of a battle that had been proving elusive for the past hour or so finally came to light. Turning to Lord Glover he said "My Lord send scouts ahead and ask them to report what they find, we don't want to attack those who could be our allies."

Glover replied with a yes your grace and galloped of to do just that. Edwyn turned to Perwyn who was riding next to him and said "Ser Perwyn, are your men ready for battle?"

Perwyn replied "Aye they are your grace."

"Good we may be needing some extra steel very soon." Edwyn replied

As they got closer and closer to Torrhen's Square, Edwyn signalled for the men to stop marching and await Lord Glover's scouts return. As they waited Edwyn debated the various ways to retake the square if the Ironborn had captured it, they could go for a full pitched battle which would give them the advantage as they'd be fighting on flat ground and hand to hand not like at Moat Catilin, or they could split the forces up and attack from the sides but at the risk of having many casualties.

Lord Glover rode up next to Edwyn and said "Your Grace, my scouts have returned and have said that they spotted the direwolf banner amongst those fighting the Ironborn, it appears the Ironborn have taken the castle."

Edwyn's heart began to sink but then he said "How many men did your scouts see for the Ironborn?"

"Around 250 your grace, there would have been more but the rest have been killed by the northern force already there." Glover replied.

Edwyn decided, they would assist the northern force already there and wipe out these Ironborn scum. "Very well, men prepare to march we ride now!"

And with that the northern force led by Prince Edwyn Stark roared a battle cry and ran toward the battle at Torrhen's Square.

**Storm's End**

Catelyn Stark sat astride her horse and listened to the Baratheon brothers both of whom would call themselves King, bickering like little children. It was rather infuriating.

Catelyn inwardly groaned as she heard Renly mock Stannis's new banners and the red woman who appeared to be some sort of priestess. Honestly the thought of either one of these men as King if this was how they would behave when facing a dispute did not inspire much confidence. Eventually Catelyn had had enough and said "If the two of you were my children and were arguing like that, I'd take you to the knee and hit you till some sense was knocked into you. It does us no good for you two to be arguing now, we all share a common enemy: The Lannisters. If we could join our forces together then we could easily crush them."

It seemed that had cowed Renly, but Stannis did not look happy as he said "Lady Catelyn, I must admit that I am rather surprised to see you with my brother. I would have thought you would have come to me to seek an alliance, for your lord husband did support my claim."

Before Catelyn could reply, Renly cut in and said "The whole country, from Dorne to the Wall renounces your claim, new born babies renounce it with their first breath, mothers renounce it, those on their deathbeds renounce it."

Catelyn could tell by how tightly Stannis was holding his jaw closed that he was none to impressed by Renly's outburst, something that was confirmed when he said "For the mother who bore us both, I will give you one last chance, strike your banners and come to me at dawn and I'll return you your place on the small council. I'll even name you my heir, till a son is born to me."

Catelyn saw that Stannis genuinely meant it, she desperately hoped that Renly wouldn't be foolish enough to reject the offer, but then she was disappointed when she heard him say " See those banners over there brother, the Tyrells and the whole of the Reach and the Stormlands has rallied behind me, explain why I should bend to you, when I can easily win it without you."

That wasn't the answer that Stannis wanted to hear, Catelyn could see that much and when Stannis spoke next his tone was one of iron "You have until dawn Renly, if you do not come then, we will fight and I shall destroy you." And with that Stannis turned on his horse and began to march away, but not before Stannis's priestess said "Look to your sins Lord Renly, for the night is dark and full of terrors."

Catelyn didn't like the way she said that and didn't like the way she felt a chill go up her arms at the priestess's words. She hoped she could atleast try and convince Renly to change his mind before something bad happened.

**King's Landing**

Sansa felt Ser Meryn's hand hit her again, and this time the force of the blow was enough to knock her down to the ground to her knees. This time King Joffrey had summoned her to court to have her beaten for the fact that her brother Robb had managed to win battle at Oxcross and Ashenmark. As Sansa tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to burst free, she wondered how she could have been so foolish as to have actually thought that Joffrey was kind and caring or any of the other millions of foolish thoughts that she had had about Joffrey and the capital when she had first arrived. Now she dreaded the day she flowered and was deemed ready to marry Joffrey, each day she went to the Sept and prayed for Robb to be successful and to march on King's Landing and take her away from here. It seemed that the gods were only partially listening to her prayers, for whilst Robb continued to win battles, she still remained stuck in King' Landing subject to Joffrey's whims and mood swings.

She felt herself being lifted up and found herself staring Ser Boros Blount in the eye, and quickly ducked her head down she didn't want to see what he was about to do to her. But it appeared that Joffrey took a lot of joy in tormenting her for he said "Ser Boros, I don't think the Lady Sansa had quite learnt her lesson yet, would you be so kind as to teach her again please, but leave her face I like her pretty."

Sansa felt Ser Boros's fist connect with her stomach, winding her and as she fell to the ground again she heard a voice say "What is the meaning of this!"

She heard footsteps walking up towards her looking up through red eyes, Sansa saw that it was the imp Lord Tyrion, had he come to torment her as well?

"Is this how you treat your betrothed your grace?" Tyrion said angrily

"Her brother is a traitor, her whole family are traitors she deserves it!" Was Joffrey's childish response.

"She is to be your wife, have the decency to treat her with the respect she deserves!" Tyrion replied.

He then turned his attention to Ser Boros and said "And you ser, what sort of knight are you that attacks helpless maidens?"

Ser Boros said nothing, but Sansa took some grim satisfaction in seeing the colour begin to rise on his cheeks.

Tyrion turned to Sansa then and said "Bronn could you be so kind to wrap your cloak around Lady Sansa please, the King is done now."

Feeling herself being lifted up by strong arms and being wrapped up and guided toward the exit of the great hall Sansa could only feel relieve that her torment at Joffrey's hands was over for now atleast. So she was completely caught off guard when Lord Tyrion said to her "Would you wish for your betrothal to King Joffrey to be annulled my lady?"

Sansa was unsure of what to say, was this some sort of Lannister trap, she had to tread carefully here and so said the lie that came to her tongue easily "No my lord, I love King Joffrey with all my heart, it is my fault that I have traitors blood."

She hated the lie but it seemed to work for Lord Tyrion asked her no further questions. She hoped Robb or Edwyn could come for her soon, she didn't know how much longer she could bear to stay in King's Landing and Joffrey.

**Storm's End**

Catelyn looked at King Renly's bloody form and then looked at Lady Brienne who had been putting his armour on him, and she was stunned. The shadow had appeared from nowhere and then suddenly Renly was coughing up blood and had fallen back into Brienne's arms. Catelyn had the vague impression that the shadow or whatever it was looked like Stannis, but she couldn't be sure all she knew was that she and Brienne had to get away before they were discovered like this and accused.

So she turned to Brienne and said "Lady Brienne we must hurry and leave before the other guards come and accuse you!"

Brienne shook her head, but eventually after some more persuading, she agreed to leave but not before swearing herself to Catelyn's service.

As they hurried from Renly's tent and made their way to their horses, she called out to Ned Wull and Mathis Locke who had accompanied her, and told them to get ready to leave. Meanwhile all she could think of was how she was going to explain this to Robb, a potential ally was dead, and it was like the Tyrells would march back to the reach for Robb had nothing to offer them as he was betrothed to a Frey and Edwyn had already married his Frey girl, she could only hope that the Tyrells didn't ally with the Lannisters.

**Torrhen's Square**

Edwyn cut a bloody path through the Ironborn forces that held Torrhen's Square. It turned out the northern forces that had been sighted by Lord Glover's scouts were in fact 500 men from Winterfell being led by Ser Rodrik Cassel, Edwyn had never been so relieved to see the old knight as he had been then. Ser Rodrik had greeted him and then told him that the Ironborn in the square were being led by one Dagmar Cleftjaw and had originally had around 500 men holding the square. That number had been greatly reduced now, and Edwyn soon found himself face to face with the Cleftjaw himself.

They soon began exchanging blows and were both bloodied very quickly but once again with a quick feint and swing Edwyn found his sword pointing at the Cleftjaw's throat, not waiting to exchange pleasantries he swung his sword up high and then brought it down cleaving the Cleftjaw in half. Thus retaining control of Torrhen's Square for the North.

Victory however, was short lived as the old maester at the square soon presented Edwyn with two letters both of which contained dark words. The first said that Asha Greyjoy was marching through the Wolfswood with 1000 Ironborn bastards to try and fight the force at the square. The second left a horrible feeling in Edwyn's mouth; Theon Greyjoy had captured Winterfell and had declared himself Prince of Winterfell. The bastard.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Wolfswood**

Asha Greyjoy daughter of King Balon Greyjoy sighed. She had roused her men when she had received a raven from her brother Theon asking for assistance in holding Winterfell, her little brother had been brave or stupid enough to seize it in the dark of night with only twenty men, and had requested help from Asha. So Asha had mustered her men, the 1000 that had been left to her after she had taken Deepwood Motte, leaving a garrison of thirty men she had marched south with the remainder of the men.

It was just as they had set up camp on the first day after leaving Deepwood Motte that they had heard the news of the fall of Moat Catilin and the death of her uncle Victarion at the hands of the Greenlander Edwyn Stark. That news had shaken Asha to her very core, if this Greenlander had been able to kill a man as battle hardened as her uncle Victarion, the Theon stood no chance, and so she had hastened her march on Winterfell, and so here she was camped in the middle of the Wolfswood about four days away from Winterfell.

Rumours had been spreading around the camp of Dagmar Cleftjaw (the man Theon had entrusted to take Torrhen's Square) death, also at the hands of Edwyn Stark and that the force that he had had used to capture the square had been completely obliterated by the northmen. This deeply worried Asha, as she was now the last solid line of defence between her brother and this stark boy who it seemed was intent on killing Ironborn. Asha could only dread what he would do to Theon if he got to Winterfell before she did, after all Theon had lived with the Starks for nine years and had fought beside the two stark boys against the Lannisters in the south, Asha knew what she would do to Theon if he betrayed her like that and it wouldn't be pretty.

After hearing the rumours of the fall of Torrhen's Square Asha had sent riders and scouts out down further into the Wolfswood to see if there was a force approaching by. Only one rider had returned and the tale he had told was enough to frighten Asha deeply. The rider had reported that there roughly around 4,200 northerners camped at the south of the Wolfswood, and that they were shooting down any ravens that came from Winterfell, and had managed to capture and kill several of the scouts Asha had sent including Tris Botley.

What Asha couldn't work out was why the northerners hadn't attacked yet. They must surely know that there was an Ironborn force camped in the middle of the Wolfswood, that was stuck and unable to properly move because of the autumn rains, surely now would be the best opportune moment to strike. The fact that nothing had happened as of yet, worried Asha deeply she could tell something was about to happen but what it was she couldn't exactly tell. If they managed to get to Winterfell, Asha resolved that she'd try and talk Theon out of staying in Winterfell where he'd surely be tortured or have much worse done to him, and return with her to Pyke, where they could plot a new.

Asha's thoughts as to how she was going to suitably convince Theon were cut off by the sounds of a horn being blown far away deep in the Wolfswood, it seemed the northerners had come out to play at last.

**The Crag**

Robb Stark, King in The North and the Riverlands bellowed a command and led the charge as he and his men began the assault on the Crag one of the last strongholds in the Westerlands that still belonged to the Lannisters.

Robb soon found himself cutting and hacking his way through men defending the Crag, he saw through his battle haze as men and boys alike fell to the ground around him blood was on his sword whose blood he couldn't quite tell, but it was blood all the same. He could see the gates to the Crag close by and yelled at the Smalljon and Dacey Mormont his ever loyal guards to follow him in ramming down the doors to the keep.

Robb found himself face to face with a big burly knight, who soon swung at him with a lot of strength but not much aim and Robb easily deflected the blow, and soon managed to strike the man a few times denting his armour before eventually plunging his sword into the man's chest and pulling it out again as the man fell to his knees on the ground dead.

Robb continued to cut a bloody path through the Westerlanders hacking and slashing at any man foolish enough to come near him, sparing a quick glance for Smalljon and Dacey he found them at either side of him hacking men to pieces, and if he strained he could see his squire Olyvar doing the same as was the Greatjon.

Robb soon found himself close to the gates of the Crag, cutting through the last few men on the ground who stood in his way Robb stormed toward the gate trying to ignore the searing pain that was beginning to coarse through him as an arrow struck his chest, signalling to Rod Flint and Ser Donnel Locke to ready the ram, Robb charged at the gates hitting them with all his might to weaken them a bit for the ram. Once he was satisfied he had done his job, he signalled for Flint and Locke to charge with the ram, which they did four times before the gates finally opened.

Letting out a roar of triumph Robb ran into the keep, and finding that there were still more men in the courtyard of the keep running toward him, he began hacking and cutting his way through the men, all the while trying to ignore the growing pain in his chest from where the arrow was still stuck. After he had cut down what he thought would be the last man, Robb ripped the arrow from his chest and bit back a curse of pain, before looking at one of the remaining Westerling soldiers- a greybeard in truth- marching up to him, Robb grabbed him by the collar and asked him "The Lord's Chambers where are they?"

The man just about managed to point up at a room just above where Robb currently was. Letting go of the man Robb ran up the stairs, closely followed by Smalljon and Dacey Mormont, barging into the Lord's Solar he found three people there cowering in terror. Robb stopped and said "Your castle has been taken your men are dead. The Lannisters are in no position to help you. Do you surrender?"

One of the people in the solar, who Robb belatedly realised, was a lady probably no older than his own mother said "We do your grace, if you would spare us."

**Dorne**

Doran Martell the ruling prince of Dorne, looked at the letter that he had received that morning from the capital and looked at his brother and sighed. "I know that you would rather we not have anything to do with the Lannisters brother, but this offer the Imp has given us is a very good offer, likely better than anything we are like to get from the Lannisters."

Doran could tell his brother was not amused, and it showed "Yes, yes say what you like brother but I like it not. Why would they ask that you agree to a betrothal between Trystane and the Queen Whore's daughter, if not for some plot? The Lannisters are being routed in their own backyard by the Young Wolf, Tywin Lannister himself has been defeated many a time in the Riverlands, why not call the banners now and march on the capital itself?"

Doran knew that his brother was simply testing his patience, but still it grated on him that even now at the age of one and forty, his brother still had all the patience of a green boy. So it was with some exasperation that Doran said "Whilst that is a very tempting option Oberyn, we must tread carefully here, we must accept the betrothal and the seat on the small council in order to better assess the situation for when our true plans can come to fruition. You shall go in my stead. Learn all you can about the situation in the capital, learn what you can about Elia and her children's murders, write back to me once you have found out all you can and then we shall act. Do nothing until then."

Oberyn nodded his agreement albeit reluctantly.

As he got up to leave, Doran said "Call for maester Collette please brother, I have letters to send."

**Winterfell**

Theon was worried. He felt trapped and surrounded by enemies, the people of Winterfell if they had not already hated him clearly did so now. He had heard the news that Moat Catilin had fallen back into northern hands and that Robb's brother Edwyn had been the one leading the forces and had also been the one to kill his uncle Victarion. That had shaken Theon, he didn't know what was taken his sister so long to come with her men to help him defend Winterfell.

To make matters worse only the day before he had received a raven from Torrhen's Square, more precisely from Edwyn Stark detailing the massacre of the Ironborn forces that had been sent there to hold it, as well as the death of Dagmar Cleftjaw by Edwyn's own hand. The letter had also said that if Theon surrendered Winterfell now Edwyn would spare him and allow him to take the black, if not then Theon would suffer the consequences. Theon had burnt the letter after reading it and had refused to listen to Maester Luwin's suggestion that he accept Edwyn's offer and surrender the castle. He couldn't, he wouldn't do that not after everything he'd gone through to take the damn castle. Besides he was sure Edwyn wouldn't even get so close to Winterfell to even proof a realistic threat, Asha and her men would probably kill him before he got within reach of Winterfell. The people of Winterfell had heard that Edwyn was approaching and had immediately started causing trouble, Theon had been told by Reek that if he wanted the people to heel he would need to kill Bran and Rickon. Theon shuddered at the thought but could see the logic of it all, kill them and the people would live in fear of him and what he would do, turning to Maester Luwin he said "Bring Brand and Rickon here, let's end this shall we."

**The Wolfswood**

The battle raged all around Edwyn, men were falling like flies dying left right and centre, he noted with some grim satisfaction that the majority of the men dying seemed to be Ironborn. The plan seemed to have worked. Upon learning that Asha Greyjoy was marching through the Wolfswood and that she was camped there, Edwyn had come up with a plan to split the forces in half. Half would march north to meet the Ironborn under the guidance of Ser Rodrik, Lord Glover and Leobald Tallhart. The other half of the force would march west then curve into the Wolfswood and attack the Ironborn where they were currently camped from the side, blocking their chances of fleeing.

At present it appeared that the plan was going nicely, the Ironborn were dying being crushed against the northern wall of assault. Edwyn himself had had a hand in a fair few Ironborn deaths plunging his sword into their chests and cutting of their heads as they approached him.

He soon found himself face to face with Asha Greyjoy, Theon's sister. Wielding an axe she swung at him with brute force, he just about managed to avoid losing an ear by ducking to the left, as she raised her axe to try again Edwyn darted in and cut her across her chest, drawing blood through her armour. That didn't seem to stop her though, as she swung again and this time managed to connect with Edwyn's face sending a bit of blood and spit falling from his mouth. Recovering Edwyn then swung his sword only to find his swing blocked by her axe. Breaking away from it Edwyn then began to furiously swing his sword getting a few nicks and dents into her armour along the way, drawing blood on a few of the hits. Other times his sword was deflected by her axe, and sometimes she managed to get a few of her own blows into his armour, denting it and drawing blood from a not yet healed shoulder wound.

It was as they were both nearing the end of their strength beginning to tire, that Edwyn saw and opening and managed to seize it, meaning to disarm her of her axe but she lifted it up at the last moment, and instead Edwyn found his sword plunged deep into her chest near her heart, looking up from where his sword was, Edwyn saw Asha Greyjoy's face go pale, and as her eyes rolled into the back of her head, Edwyn pulled his sword out of her chest and stepped back to allow her to fall to the ground dead.

Looking at his sword which was covered in blood and then looking around at his surroundings, Edwyn saw the last few remaining Ironborn soldiers being killed or surrendering. Edwyn sheathed his sword and said in a loud voice "Asha Greyjoy is dead, all Ironborn left can either surrender or die, and the choice is yours. My people of the north, the last Greyjoy awaits us in Winterfell let us march!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Crofter's Village**

Edwyn held back a gasp of pain as the army maester treated his wounds. He'd been more seriously wounded then he had first thought and when he'd nearly collapsed into the ground upon the northern army's entrance into the village, Ser Rodrik had insisted that the maester tend to him.

Edwyn thought about various things whilst waiting for the maester to finish tending to him. They'd lost a good few men during the battle in the Wolfswood, but the trick they'd employed had worked and so had kept the casualties down the a minimum compared to what they could have been. After Asha Greyjoy's death, Edwyn couldn't remember much he couldn't remember giving the command to march and make camp in the village, but he must have for here they were. Thankfully the people in the village seemed almost relieved to see the northern host being led by a Stark, after he had rested for a little while Edwyn had spoken with the village leader and had heard the most horrendous of tales of the Ironborn occupation of Winterfell apparently Theon had had the gall to demand that all the people in Winterfell, the Wintertown and Crofter's Village bend the knee to him. Anyone who refused to was killed.

That had made Edwyn's blood boil, the fact that Theon had taken his home and had betrayed Robb had already angered him, but the fact that he was now treating the people who had seen him grow up like vermin, was even more angering, Edwyn's father had taught them better than that.

Ser Rodrik had told him after the village leader had left about some of the concern surrounding the succession of Hornwood. After all Daryn had been killed by Jamie Lannister at the Whispering Wood, and word had reached Winterfell whilst Edwyn had still been camped in the Barrowlands of Halys Hornwood's death at the Green Fork. Apparently Ramsay Snow, Roose Bolton's bastard had forced Lady Hornwood to marry him, and then had locked her into a tower, that had caused significant outrage amongst the Manderlys and other northern lords, but before Ramsay Snow could be brought to justice he had disappeared, and no one had seen him for months now. This did worry Edwyn, for Ramsay Snow did have a very bad reputation in the North for some rather cruel and sadistic behaviour and the thought of him roaming around the north, whilst there was still trouble deeply disturbed Edwyn. He would have to deal with that once Winterfell had been retaken and Theon suitably dealt with.

Edwyn had sent a raven to Winterfell, the minute he had been given the permission to write by the maester, Edwyn had written a letter and had had it sent by raven to Theon, stating that if he surrendered Winterfell and told his men to lay down their arms, they would be allowed to take the black. If not then they would face the consequences. That raven had been sent two days ago and so far there had been no response from Winterfell. Edwyn was resigned to most likely having to storm Winterfell.

Edwyn was taken out of his reverie by the sound of the door to the room where he was staying opening. Turning round and looking over the maester's shoulder Edwyn saw Ser Rodrik standing in the doorway looking rather grim, Edwyn wondered why that was so asked him "Ser Rodrik, what's the matter? You look troubled."

Ser Rodrik replied "We've received a rider from Winterfell your grace."

Edwyn's heart sped up considerably. A rider from Winterfell, could that mean that Theon had finally seen sense and decided to surrender. He had to know "Send him in Ser Rodrik, I wish to hear what this rider has to say."

Ser Rodrik nodded, and walked out of the room, returning a few moments later with a man Edwyn hadn't seen in years. "Mikken! What are you doing here? Has Theon sent you to announce his surrender? How is everyone at Winterfell doing?" Edwyn had thousands of more questions he wanted to ask, but stopped himself when he saw the grim and sorrowful expression on Mikken's face, Edwyn began to dread what he had come to say.

"Your Grace, I have indeed come from Winterfell, but not at the request of Theon turn cloak. I fled Winterfell as soon as the turn cloak did the deed in order to seek you out." Mikken said

"Deed? What deed? What has Theon done Mikken?" Edwyn could feel the panic rising in his chest as he began to fear the worst, Bran and Rickon were still in Winterfell, unguarded.

"Your Grace, the turn cloak, he, he killed your brothers your grace, killed them and then cut off their heads and dipped them in tar and mounted them on Winterfell's walls." Mikken said in a hurry.

Edwyn felt his heart plummet. Bran and Rickon dead, no that couldn't be right, Mikken must have seen it wrong. Theon may be many things but a child killer he wasn't he couldn't have killed Brand and Rickon he'd grown up with them, hell he'd even saved Bran's life during that Wildling problem. Surely Mikken must be mistaken, but one look at Mikken's eyes and the mournful expression in them confirmed that he was not. Edwyn had to choke out the next words he said "He has killed them you say? Very well. Ser Rodrik, tell the men to get ready we march today."

* * *

**Winterfell**

Theon Greyjoy, Prince of Winterfell sat in the Lord's Solar and brooded. Bran and Rickon had somehow managed to escape when he'd summoned them three days ago, he suspected that that old fart Luwin had something to do with their escape. Theon had led a search party into the Wolfswood accompanied by Luwin and Gage the cook as well as some of his men, but they'd been unable to find any sign of the boys or Hodor or that wildling woman. So Theon had returned to Winterfell feeling dejected, but had killed Gage the instant that foolish cook had tried to tell the people of Winterfell about his failure to capture two boys, a dolt and a woman. He had followed Reek's suggestion and had instead killed two of the miller's boys and beheaded them afterwards and dipped their heads in tar. He'd then instructed Maester Luwin to send a raven to Riverrun to inform Robb of his brothers deaths, he'd been about to send a raven to Edwyn at Torrhen's Square when he'd been handed a raven that had been sent by the brat, which once again demanded his surrender or death. Theon hadn't even bothered to write a response instead he'd just thrown the letter into the fire and watched it burn.

Maester Luwin kept telling him to accept Edwyn's terms and take the black, but he was Ironborn he had paid the iron price, and wouldn't surrender no that bastard had killed his uncle, Dagmar and his sister, now Theon was holding onto Winterfell so that when Edwyn marched- and Theon knew he would- he could have the pleasure of killing the brat himself.

The only thing that slightly worried him was that it appeared that Edwyn was camped out in Crofter's Village which was a mere half a day march from Winterfell, and he had some 4000 men with him, whilst Theon had only twenty, for he deeply doubted that the people of Winterfell would fight for him against one of their precious Starks. So when Reek had asked him for leave to ride east to where he had men camped not a day's ride away from Winterfell Theon had had to relent and agree to let him go. Some men were better than no men after all.

**King's Landing**

As Tyrion watched Myrcella and Ser Arys Oakheart, sail away to Dorne he couldn't help wondering if he had made the right decision. Doran Martell had written back with haste to accept the betrothal between Tyrion's niece and his youngest son, much to Cersei's ire. But that wasn't what concerned Tyrion in fact he rather enjoyed the fact that this rather smart move had quite annoyed Cersei.

No what he was worried about was the fact that Robb Stark continued his pillaging campaign in the Westerlands, his father's forces were being defeated in the Riverlands and Stannis Baratheon had managed to somehow kill his brother Renly and take most of his men, any day now Tyrion feared that Stannis Baratheon and his men would march on King's Landing and without his father's forces Tyrion was convinced that his head along with his idiot nephew Joffrey, and his mad sister Cersei's heads would end up on spikes on the gates of the Red Keep.

It didn't help that most of the people were beginning to believe in the rumours- though Tyrion knew better- that Stannis had spread to justify his right to the Iron Throne, about Joffrey being a creation of incest between Jamie and Cersei, Tyrion's siblings. The fact that Joffrey seemed about as mad and as bad as Aerys II had, didn't help matters nor did it help that he continued to beat Sansa Stark bloody every time one of her brother's won a battle be it in the West or in the north. Something had to be done to stop that boy from making a complete mockery of everything.

Just as Tyrion was about to walk away he found himself being held back by Cersei. Turning to look at her to ask why she had held him back from leaving, she said "I hope your happy brother. I hope that one day you will know what it is like to have someone you love taken away from you, and know that there is nothing that you can do to stop it." She let go of his arm and walked away leaving Tyrion speechless. Of course he did know what that felt like, had known it since the day his father's guards had raped Tysha and he'd been forced to watch. It was something he continued to fear would happen to Shae the minute his father eventually made it to the capital.

**Near Long Lake**

Bran was cold and wet and miserable. They'd fled Winterfell three days ago, after they'd received a summons from Theon to come to Bran and Rickon's fathers solar. Bran had suspected that something would go wrong if they did actually go to father's solar, so he'd told Hodor to pick him up, told Osha to get Rickon, and with Meer and Jojen Reed they'd escaped in the dead of the night taking what little supplies they could muster and had fled into the Wolfswood.

News had reached them that Edwyn had been successful in beating Theon's sister in what people were calling the Battle of The Wolfswood, and that he was now preparing to march on Winterfell. When he'd heard that, Bran had insisted that they return to Winterfell or at least try and camp out at the Tumbledown Tower till it was safe enough for them to return home, but Jojen had been most instant that there was no point in them returning to Winterfell now as Theon had likely killed some other boys and had claimed that they were Bran and Rickon, and besides Jojen had argued didn't he want to know what all those dreams about a three eyed crow were about. Bran did, he knew he did but he still wanted to go home at least one last time to explain everything to Edwyn, but there didn't seem to be any reasoning with Jojen now.

So it was up to the wall they went to find the three eyed crow.

**Outside the gates of Winterfell**

As Winterfell came into view, Edwyn had to prevent a gasp escaping his lips, he still hadn't quite believed that Bran and Rickon were dead until he'd seen two small heads mounted on the gates. That had made him well and truly angry and he'd galloped as fast as he could toward Winterfell all the while bellowing for Theon to come out and die.

When they'd reached the gates of Winterfell, Edwyn found Theon standing on one of the walls looking down on them with his standard smirk on his face, that smirk that had once irked Edwyn now made his blood boil and before he could quite stop himself he found himself shouting "Stop smirking you shit, and come down and die. Robb trusted you and this how you repay him, raiding our homes and killing my brothers. How could you, you cunt you grew up with them!"

Edwyn was surprised that Theon was still smirking but he didn't respond. Instead Ser Rodrik said "Theon we have the castle surrounded we have 4000 men, give up now and you may still take the black you and your Ironborn friends, surrender and any unnecessary bloodshed can be avoided." Edwyn took some grim satisfaction in the fact that after Ser Rodrik had finished speaking Theon's smirk had all but disappeared. What he didn't expect was what Theon said next "Surrender, ha I'm Ironborn we never surrender. Besides I think I have something of yours Ser Rodrik that make you more willing to surrender yourself." He motioned to someone out of Edwyn's view and this time Edwyn gasped, Theon was holding a dagger to Beth Cassel's throat. "Surrender Ser Rodrik, tell the brat next to you to lay down his arms as well and Beth lives. If not well, what's one more corpse in this place anyway."

Edwyn didn't know what to do, he could tell Ser Rodrik was torn as well. However, it seemed that help was there to be had as someone from behind them said "I believe that I may be of some assistance your grace."

Edwyn turned around to see who had spoken and found himself looking into the face of Ramsay Snow. "You, you say you can help us Snow? How?"

Edwyn noticed Ramsay Snow grimace before saying "The turn cloak held me captive in the castle for weeks I can find a way for us to sneak into the castle and still save the girl."

Edwyn could tell Ser Rodrik was torn between wanting to let Ramsay Snow show them this way in, and wanting to arrest him for his crimes against Lady Hornwood. Making the decision for him, Edwyn said "Very well snow, lead the way."

Ramsay Snow smiled at Edwyn before marching forward with his men, Edwyn and the northern force followed him, and soon they were right in front of the gates and Edwyn heard Snow shout "Prince Theon, it's me Reek, I've come with the men that I promised you, let me in."

Edwyn could tell something was awry the moment he heard Ramsay Snow call himself Reek, but what he didn't expect was for Ramsay Snow to turn around face Edwyn, and say "Its Ramsay Bolton your grace, not Snow." Before he charged through toward Edwyn cutting down the men in his path, Edwyn watched paralysed as he saw the men Ramsay had come with, who he now saw were wearing the flayed man of house Bolton on their jerkins began to cut down men around them, all the while Ramsay Snow was cutting a bloody bath toward Edwyn. Shaking himself out if his stupor, Edwyn drew his sword, and rode to meet Ramsay head on. Ramsay took a wild swing at Edwyn, but missed by miles, Edwyn swung his sword and managed to cut Ramsay's chest. Ramsay grunted and then resumed his mad barrage of swings and lunges all of which missed Edwyn, whilst Edwyn managed to swing and strike Ramsay in the chest and arms, before finally managing to plunge his sword into Ramsay's chest. Before he pulled his sword out of the Bastard of Bolton's chest he said "I don't much like traitors." He pulled his sword out and watched Ramsay Snow fall to the ground dead, before shouting "Men of the Dreadfort, Ramsay Snow is dead. Surrender now and march back home or die."

Edwyn was pleased to see the remaining men Ramsay Snow had brought with him decided to stop fighting, and put down their weapons. Raising his voice again, Edwyn said "Men of the north let us take Winterfell and kill those Iron bastards!"

With a roar Edwyn galloped through the gates of Winterfell and began hacking and killing the first Ironborn bastard that he saw. He began hacking and cutting his way through the Iron Born, looking for where Theon was. Seeing him next where Mikken's forge was Edwyn rode there and upon reaching it dismounted and walked toward Theon with his sword raised and said "Surrender Theon, you have lost." Theon it seemed didn't wish to surrender for he drew his own sword and began swinging at Edwyn, managing to get a few bruises onto his exposed shoulder, but soon Edwyn managed to over power him and soon had his sword at Theon's throat and raise it up and then swung it down cleaving Theon Greyjoy's face in half, killing him.

Looking at Theon's lifeless body, Edwyn felt numb, he didn't feel angry but he didn't feel any better, he'd killed the man who had been like a brother to him, but he'd also killed the man who had betrayed his king and had killed his brothers and taken his home.

As Edwyn Stark looked at Theon Greyjoy's lifeless body, the northern forces destroyed the twenty Ironborn men Theon had brought with him, and retook Winterfell for the North and House Stark.

A little while later after the battle had finished Edwyn was sat in his father's solar staring into the fire before turning to Maester Luwin and saying "Maester Luwin, I want you to write a letter to Riverrun, tell my brother and mother that Theon, Asha and Victarion Greyjoy are all dead. Tell them the North is ours again."

"As you command your grace." Maester Luwin then shuffled out of the solar toward the rookery to send the letter.


	6. Chapter 6

**One month Later**

**Winterfell**

Edwyn Stark sat at the high table in the Great Hall of Winterfell watching the various Lords, Lady and soldiers eating food and found his thoughts drifting to other places. After they had managed to take Winterfell back from the Ironborn and Edwyn had sent a raven to Robb at Riverrun informing him of the good news, he had allowed Lord Glover to return to Deepwood Motte to remove the Ironborn that were still occupying it. They had received word from Lord Glover two weeks past that the Ironborn had been successfully driven out and that Deepwood Motte belonged to the north again, that had led to much cheering and celebration when the news had been read out in the great hall that evening. Edwyn had promptly written a letter and sent it on to Riverrun to inform Robb.

The day after retaking Winterfell Edwyn had gone up to the place where Theon Greyjoy had mounted his brothers heads, and had found that they were indeed so tarred as to be deeply unrecognizable, but there was something about the way one of the boy's mouth was shaped that had garnered Edwyn's interest it looked distinctly different to how he remembered either Bran or Rickon's mouths looking, as they had both shared mother's slight mouth. Edwyn's suspicions had been confirmed when he had spoken to Maester Luwin about it and had been told that Bran and Rickon had actually fled from Winterfell with Hodor, the Reed Children and the wildling woman Osha, when Theon had summoned them, and when their absence had been discovered Theon had led an unsuccessful hunt for them. That had allowed hope to bloom in Edwyn that his younger brothers could still be alive, and so he had sent Ser Rodrik Cassel and twenty other men out into the godswood to see if they could find any trace of Bran or Rickon, they had returned some days later with a man who Edwyn realised was part of the Norrey Clan who told Edwyn that he had seen a boy riding on the back of a giant of a man accompanied by two other children on the Ice Mountains, and Edwyn had realised that the children were most certainly Bran and the Reeds, and so had thanked the man for his assistance and had sent a raven to the Wall to alert Jon to the possibility that Bran may be appearing there soon, as of yet there had been no response from Jon, which did worry Edwyn. Rickon and the wildling woman had turned up at Last Hearth as the raven from Mors Umber said, and had arrived back at Winterfell three days ago. Much to Edwyn's relief, he had written a letter and had sent it onto Riverrun to inform Robb and their mother that Bran and Rickon lived. Edwyn had also received a raven from the Twins and Lord Walder informing him of the unfortunate death of his wife Minisa from the fever. Edwyn surprisingly felt nothing upon hearing the news, he supposed it was because he had only known her for a day and had not really seen her for more than a month now, still he was a little sad and did feel a bit lonely.

As of yet there had been no response from either Robb or Lady Catelyn and Edwyn was beginning to worry, surely by now they would have replied to at least one of his ravens, they hadn't even replied to the raven he'd sent saying that Winterfell was theirs and that had been sent a moon ago. When he had mentioned his concerns to Maester Luwin, the old maester had simply said that perhaps either the ravens had not yet reached Riverrun or they had not had the chance to read them yet given that they were likely on the move. Edwyn had asked Perwyn to write to his father and ask him to tell Robb the good news should they meet again, and Perwyn had promised to write and had in fact sent the raven to the Twins a week back, still there was no response and it was beginning to trouble Edwyn greatly.

**The Twins**

There was a reason for why none of Edwyn's ravens had been responded to, in retaliation to King Robb breaking his sworn oath to marry a Frey girl and instead marrying Jeyne Westerling, the men from the Twins who had accompanied King Robb on his march to Riverrun and the Westerlands had since left and marched back to the Twins. Lord Walder had also instructed his men to shoot down any ravens that came from the North so as to starve the King in the North of any information about his home, and the Lord Walder had also instructed his men to shoot down any ravens that came from the North so as to starve the King in the North of any information about his home, and the final part of the Freys retribution to the King in the North was unfurling right in front of Lord Walder Frey's eyes at this very moment.

The wedding and feast of Lord Edmure Tully and Lady Roslin Frey had gone exceptionally well in Walder Frey's eyes, the northerners didn't even have a clue that something was amiss, in fact everything would have gone to plan had that wolf bitch Catelyn Stark not become suspicious by the Rains of Castamere being played, that had forced Walder to play the next part out a little earlier than he would have liked.

The musicians put down their instruments and picked up their crossbows and began firing their arrows at the drunk northerners killing most of them before they'd even had the chance to realise what was going on, some of his men had closed and barred the doors, and northerners were being killed left, right and centre.

The icing on the cake as far as Lord Walder was concerned thought was when the Young Wolf moved forward and was stuck by three arrows to the chest and leg respectively. Lord Walder was beginning to enjoy the Tywin Lannister School of retribution very much, his fun was only partially ruined when the wolf bitch Catelyn Stark began to speak. "Lord Walder! LORD WALDER! Enough," said Catelyn. "Enough, I say. You have repaid betrayal with betrayal, let it end." The wolf bitch held a knife to the neck of Lord Walder's lackwit grandson. "Please," she said. "He is my son. My first son and one of two left to me. Let him go. Let him go and I swear we will forget this... forget all you've done here. I swear it by the old gods and new, we... we will take no vengeance..."

Lord Walder peered at her in mistrust. "Only a fool would believe such blather. D'you take me for a fool, my lady?"

"I take you for a father. Keep me for a hostage, Edmure as well if you haven't killed him. But let Robb go."

"No." Robb's voice was whisper faint. "Mother, no...

"Yes. Robb, get up. Get up and walk out, please, please. Save yourself... if not for me, for Jeyne. Do it for your wife."

Mother," he said, "Grey Wind..."

"Go to him. Now. Robb, walk out of here."

Lord Walder snorted. "And why would I let him do that?"

" On my honour as a Tully," Catelyn told Lord Walder, "on my honour as a Stark, I will trade your boy's life for Robb's. A son for a son."

"A son for a son, heh," he repeated. "But that's a grandson... and he never was much use."

Then Lord Walder delighted in seeing Robb Stark, the mighty King in the North stagger up to Roose Bolton, and then watched with perverse joy as he heard Bolton say "Jamie Lannister sends his regards." Before he plunged his dagger into Robb Stark's chest.

**Dragonstone**

Stannis Baratheon, rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms sat at the painted table and seethed. His force of men had been utterly destroyed at the Battle of the Blackwater, first by the wildfire that the Lannisters had placed in unmanned ships, then when the remnants of his fleet had landed, and his men had taken to the shore of King's Landing and seemed to be gaining the advantage the Lannisters reigned wildfire down onto them, and the Lannister- Tyrell force led by Tywin Lannister, Mace Tyrell and Randyll Tarly came charging down and had completely routed Stannis's men and their morale.

Those men who had either not already been killed or fled, began to lose their nerve the minute they saw a man dressed in Stannis's younger brother's armour, some of the more lackwit soldiers had begun shouting crazed things of Renly's ghost coming to haunt them, and had immediately turned their cloak and began attacking their former allies.

Stannis himself had received a wound whilst fighting near the Gate of the Gods and had been forced to retreat back onto one of the few ships left to him after the wildfire explosion. And he had watched from the ship as months and months of planning came undone and he was defeated.

Stannis knew that perhaps the red woman, that his wife was such a fervent believer in, and the woman whose power had given him Storm's End, had been present then perhaps things would have been different and he would now be sitting in the Red Keep. However, that was not the case and Stannis had never been a man for what ifs and buts, and lately he found that Ser Davos's continued attempts to speak reason to him were a refreshment from the constant bumbling fools that made up his wife's family who kept telling him he needed to burn this person or that person to ensure that he had R'hllor's blessing. Whilst Ser Davos expressed his doubts about the power of the red woman's power, Stannis himself nursed some doubts as well. She claimed that he was a hero of legend, and the gift of the red god, if this was the case then why would he need this god's blessing if he was meant to be doing the god's work?

It was with these doubts in his head that he read the letter given to him by Ser Davos that had come from the wall, reading it he finally made up his mind about what he needed to do to win his kingdom.

**Highgarden**

Sansa liked Highgarden very much, she had only been there for two weeks but she deeply enjoyed it. After the Battle of the Blackwater, the Tyrells had been hailed as the saviours of the city, and when Joffrey had set aside their betrothal Sansa had nearly wept for joy, but of course she had felt deeply afraid for Margaery Tyrell who had taken her place as Joffrey's betrothed. So she had been very surprised and afraid when she had been asked to dine with Margaery and her grandmother Olenna, a few days after the Battle of the Blackwater.

They had asked her what Joffrey was like and initially Sansa was afraid to tell the truth in case it was some sort of trap made by Cersei to confess to being a traitor, but after much pushing and prodding by the two Tyrell ladies, Sansa had finally confessed and told them the horrible truth about Joffrey. After she had finished speaking she had been deeply afraid that they would break off the marriage and that she'd be left with here. But instead they had said not to worry and soon Sansa found herself spending more and more time in Margaery's company, something Sansa didn't mind at all.

One day Margaery had taken Sansa aside and asked her if she would like to visit Highgarden, and if she would like to meet Margaery's older brother Willas, Sansa of course had been most enthusiastic to do so and so a few days late she had found herself in a carriage accompanied by Lady Alerie (Margaery's mother) and Ser Garlan and his wife Leonnette as they headed to Highgarden.

Highgarden was as beautiful as Margaery said it would be and the people there didn't look away from her as she walked through the halls, and Lady Alerie, Ser Garlan and Lady Leonnette were so nice and kind to her, Sansa found herself almost completely forgetting her experience in King's Landing.

Sansa had spoken Margaery's eldest brother Lord Willas- the heir to Highgarden- a few times during her stay there, and had found him to be a very nice man and very kind, and rather handsome, Sansa was embarrassed to say that she had been caught blushing as he paid her a compliment over something or the other by Lady Leonnette which had resulted in some relentless teasing for a few days. Needless to say, Sansa wished she could stay in Highgarden for a little while longer and dreaded having to return to the capital.


	7. Chapter 7

**Three Weeks later**

**King's Landing**

As Tyrion walked toward the small council chamber in the Tower of the Hand, he wondered what would be discussed in this meeting, after all when he had received the summons from his father, the messenger had called the meeting a most important and emergency meeting. Those two words made Tyrion's heart do a jump and a fall in his chest, he bloody well hoped that Stannis Baratheon wasn't trying to launch an attack on King's Landing again, the people were still angry at the Lannisters for Cersei and Joffrey's follies in the weeks building up to the Blackwater, and of course the Tyrells had managed to win the people over by giving the people the food that they themselves had prevented from reaching the capital when the War of the Five Kings still had Five Kings fighting in it, now there were just four.

As Tyrion entered the small council chamber he was surprised to see Joffrey standing next to his mother, the boy was an idiot and a fool and had so far not really shown any interest in trying to understand the intricacies of ruling, so his presence here was a major surprise. What was also surprising was that Joffrey and Cersei appeared to smiling most happily and even Tyrion's father looked less grim than usual and even looked like he might smile, if such a thing was possible.

Curious as to why everyone seemed so happy Tyrion said " Father you summoned me and I have come. Pray tell why it is that everyone seems in such a happy mood today?"

Before Lord Tywin could respond, Joffrey said "Show him the letter Maester Pycelle, show him the letter!"

Intrigued as to why Joffrey sounded so happy about receiving a letter, he took it from Pycelle and read it aloud " Roslin caught a fine fat trout, and her brothers gave her a nice wolf pelt to cover herself with." Tyrion stopped reading then said "What is this, is this Lord Walder's attempt at poetry."

Joffrey blurted out "He's dead! Robb Stark's dead!"

Ah so that's what it was the Young Wolf dead, Tyrion looked to his father and saw confirmation in his eyes, but before he could say anything Joffrey began speaking again "I want his head, Maester Pycelle write to Lord Walder and tell him to send Robb Stark's head back to the capital on the orders of his king. I'll present it to Sansa on my wedding night and make her kiss it."

Tyrion was horrified, the boy was a monster. It seemed Lord Varys shared his feelings for he said "Your Grace, Lady Sansa will be your sister by marriage soon, surely you do not mean to do this?"

Before Joffrey could form a response, Cersei cut in with a fake smile plastered onto her lips and said "It was a jest, nothing more, Joffrey was joking weren't you my sweet?"

Joffrey replied indignantly "No I wasn't joking! He was a traitor, in fact they were all traitors I want no pardons for the Blackwoods or any of them grandfather, put them all to the sword and remind them that I am the King!"

Tyrion could tell that his nephew's little outburst had not impressed Lord Tywin whatsoever, a fact that was confirmed when he said "A king who has to constantly remind people that he is king, is no king at all. That was a lesson Aerys never learnt."

Joffrey it appeared however, was not cowed and said "Ha what would you know grandfather, my father was the one who defeated Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident and won the Iron Throne. All you did was hide in Casterly Rock!"

Tyrion inwardly cringed he could see the anger brewing in his father's eyes and could hear the ice in his voice when he said "Maester Pycelle, the king is ill take him back to his chambers and give him some dreamwine till he gets better."

Joffrey's protests were fervently ignored as he was escorted out of the small council chamber by Maester Pycelle and two of the Kingsguard.

Once Joffrey had left, Lord Tywin faced the rest of the small council and spoke "Hid under Casterly Rock, whoever told him that?"

Cersei was quick to claim that it was Robert, and their father replied that he was not fighting a war to sit Robert the second on the throne, Tyrion thought he had to be careful not to allow Aerys third to sit on the throne.

After the rest of the small council had been dismissed, Tyrion found himself face to face with his father as they were sitting on the opposite ends of the table. "So Robb Stark is dead then, I wonder how Lord Walder got the gall to do that then?"

Lord Tywin snorted and said "The actions were all the doing of Lord Walder and Roose Bolton."

"Yes but Lord Walder is an old man who broods about all the insults he has allegedly suffered over the years, he wouldn't have the guts to do something like that without a promise of a pardon and protection."

"Yes, well it was done to secure the family line on the throne and tell me Tyrion would you have rejected Lord Walder and told him nay, that would have driven him straight back into the arms of the Young Wolf. Tell me why is it better for ten thousand men to die on the battlefield, but not for a few thousand to die at dinner?"

Tyrion had no response to that, but his next question was one he was dying to hear the answer to "So Robb Stark is dead, but he still has a younger brother left who has won the north back from the Ironborn. How do you expect to bring him back into the fold after his brother's death?"

Lord Tywin replied "I don't. Roose Bolton is currently marching north with two thousand men, he will defeat and kill Edwyn Stark then get the remaining Stark Bannermen to heal and will serve as Warden of the North until your child by Sansa Stark comes of age."

Tyrion was shocked he'd heard about Sansa spending time in Highgarden and had assumed that perhaps she'd be married off to one of the Tyrells he hadn't expected his father to say what he'd just said so he sputtered out a response "My child by Sansa, how what how? I thought she was marrying one of the Tyrell boys?"

Lord Tywin had on what could only be described as an attempt at a smirk "Yes that is what the Tyrells think, but I will not allow them to take away the key to the north. No you shall marry her the day she returns from Highgarden and be done with it."

And with that Tyrion was dismissed from the chamber. As he walked back to his own rooms he couldn't help but ponder on these turn of events, Robb Stark dead how on earth would he get Sansa to agree to marry him after he told her the news? He'd have to speak with Varys.

**Highgarden**

Sansa had spent the past month and a half in Highgarden, truth be told she was surprised that she had been allowed to stay for so long there, she had been expecting a summons back to King's Landing any day now for the past few weeks and still nothing came, she was rather glad of that.

She deeply enjoyed spending time in Highgarden with Lady Alerie and Lady Leonnette, she found their company very, very good and at times it reminded her of spending time with her mother at Winterfell, but she always tried to prevent her thoughts lingering too long on Winterfell and mother, and Robb and Edwyn.

She was currently sitting in the gardens when she heard someone cough behind her, turning round to see who it was, Sansa found a blush spreading across her cheeks as she saw that it was Willas. She rather enjoyed his company as well, he was so handsome and kind and so very different to how Joffrey was, she really liked him.

"Lady Sansa, I hope I'm not disturbing anything?" Willas said rather tentatively

Sansa shook her head no he wasn't disturbing her.

He limped toward her and sat down next to her, Sansa shivered with how warm he was.

"Sansa... I'm not sure how to say this exactly but there was a raven from the Twins that reached today. Sansa your brother Robb and your mother were killed at your Uncle's wedding."

Sansa gasped she tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to escape, no that couldn't be right that couldn't be true. Robb couldn't be dead he was supposed to come and save her, mother couldn't be dead no, no. But one look into Willas's eyes and the sorrow and pity that were there confirmed it for truth, Sansa Stark felt her resistance fall and soon she was crying and sobbing into Willas's chest as he held her and stroked her hair.

**Winterfell**

Edwyn Stark Prince of the North sat in his father' solar in Winterfell, staring into the fire and holding the letter that had come from The Twins and had arrived that morning. It was written in Olyvar Frey's rather small and neat writing, and its words had struck a deep blow to Edwyn.

Olyvar had written of Edwyn's brother's death at the Twins a violation of the sacred guest right. The reason why, retribution for Robb breaking his vow to marry one of Lord Walder's daughters and instead marrying someone called Jeyne Westerling. Olyvar, who had been Robb's squire until he was ordered back to the Twins, said that Lord Walder had been plotting to do this deed with Lord Bolton and Tywin Lannister ever since news of Robb's betrayal had reached his ears.

Olyvar wrote of how Lord Bolton had been the one to stab Robb in the chest just as it was all about to end, and of Edwyn's mother Olyvar wrote that Lady Catelyn was being held hostage by Lord Walder unbeknownst to Tywin Lannister and Roose Bolton.

Olyvar wrote that Roose Bolton was marching north two thousand men to claim Winterfell in the name of Joffrey Baratheon, the King on the Iron Throne. Olyvar also wrote to beg for Edwyn's forgiveness that he hadn't been able to stop the Red Wedding as it was being called for happening, and said that if he could help Edwyn in any way shape or form he would.

Edwyn had been preparing himself and the northern force of 3600 men that he was in command of to march north to the Wall to help answer the plea that had come from the Wall two days ago. They were going to march north to try and smash the Wildlings and help secure the Wall as had been the wont of Lords of Winterfell to do in the past, when Maester Luwin had come into Edwyn's chambers and had given him Olyvar's letter and everything had gone to shit.

Edwyn knew not what to do as he looked into the fire, as Lord of Winterfell and King in the North now with Robb's death he was honour bound to help the Night's Watch fight against the wildlings, but he was also duty and honour bound to avenge his dead brother and king. But he also had to think of Rickon who was currently playing with the two Frey Boys in the courtyard, he had to protect Rickon, he had to.

Looking at his direwolf Storm who was sitting at his feet by the fire Edwyn said aloud "What do I do Storm? March north to the wall and help Jon and the watch beat the wildlings, or march south and kill Roose Bolton?"

Storm merely looked up at him with those piercing grey eyes of his and said nothing. Edwyn looked at the letter again, and thought of his mother suffering at the Twins, he thought of Sansa still a prisoner of the Iron Throne, he thought of Arya and wherever she may be, he thought of Bran lost in the wilderness, he thought of Rickon playing with no care in the world and then he thought of Robb, his brother, his twin, his king who had died and left him behind and Edwyn Stark the Ironbreaker made up his mind, let Roose Bolton come. Edwyn would fight him and he would win for the North Remembers.


	8. Chapter 8

**Two Weeks Later**

**The Barrowlands**

Edwyn Stark looked at the map that was currently spread out on a table in his tent, once news of Bolton's forces managing to take Moat Catilin through treachery, Edwyn had decided to march with quick haste, leaving 600 men behind with Ser Rodrik to help protect Winterfell Edwyn had marched south to deal with Roose Bolton.

At present the scouts that Edwyn had sent out had reported spying movement just north of Barrowtown, it appeared that Bolton was trying to garner more men for his army, which Edwyn was happy to note had been severely depleted by the efforts of the Cranongmen led by Howland Reed, causing up to 200 deaths to Bolton's soldiers. Bolton had left roughly 300 men to guard the moat according to the raven that Lord Howland had sent him but apparently they were Karstark men and were still loyal to the Stark cause.

The only thing Edwyn was looking forward to in the upcoming battle was being able to be the person who killed Roose Bolton, the leech lord had been a very slithery man since Robb had crossed the Twins all those years ago, and now it seemed he had finally revealed his true colours, it shouldn't really have surprised Edwyn, the Boltons had always been the more rebellious of the houses in the north trying overthrow the Starks on numerous occasions, and failing most of the time. Edwyn was determined to make sure that this time they failed for good.

Edwyn was taken out of his thoughts by the sound of his tent flap opening, looking up from the map he saw Perwyn Frey standing in the entrance. "What is it Perwyn? Has the bastard been sighted?"

Perwyn simply nodded in response and then promptly left the tent. Since news of the Red Wedding had been made common knowledge Perwyn had been looked at very suspiciously by most of the northern party almost as if they expected him to turn his cloak as well. Edwyn was confident that Perwyn wouldn't do such a thing, but decided to observe how he acted in the next few days to see whether he was worth trusting or not. Putting all thoughts from his mind, Edwyn who was already in his dark blue suit of armour, grabbed his broadsword, and marched out of his tent, grabbing his horse from one of the stable hands, he got onto it, and then rode forward, and then stopped and turned his horse to face his men. "Today we fight, not for our freedom, but for vengeance. Roose Bolton betrayed us and sold us to the Lannisters for a title. The man has no honour, today we show him and those weasel haired bastards that the North never forgets. Today we show them that THE NORTH REMEMBERS!"

His speech was met a deafening roar from the men, turning his horse back round Edwyn raised his sword in the air and led the charge. Soon the northern force being led by Edwyn Stark, crashed into the Bolton- Frey Force being led by Roose Bolton, Edwyn didn't care to look whether the men he cut down were wearing the flayed man or the two towers, they were his enemies now and needed to die. The fighting began to largely pass Edwyn by in a blur all he knew was that he needed to keep his sword swinging and the more blood that was on it the better it was.

Eventually Edwyn came face to face with his first serious opponent in the form of Hosteen Frey. When he saw Hosteen, Edwyn lifted his helm and spat onto the ground to show him what he thought of him, then he charged and soon the sounds of Edwyn and Hosteen's swords clanging against one another joined the cacophony of the battle. Hosteen was a good fighter Edwyn could give him that, but he lacked patience and that was to be his undoing as after parrying a blow from Hosteen, as he went to strike again, Edwyn went for the quick jab and plunged his sword into Hosteen's stomach, pulling out again, Hosteen's blood gushed through the wound Edwyn had made, and as Edwyn rode on Hosteen Frey fell down of his horse dead.

The next person he came across also bore the two towers of Frey, Edwyn did not recognise who this person was, but he too had to die. But before Edwyn could begin hacking the man to pieces, the man said "Well if it isn't the wolf pup. Shame your brother's dead isn't it? Left all to you to pick up the pieces eh? And your mother, oh she's given me and my brothers plenty of treats since the wedding oh yes she has-"The man was about to say something more, but Edwyn's anger had gotten the better of him and he had pushed his horse closer to the man as he had been speaking and after he had insulted Edwyn's mother Edwyn had raised his sword and brought it crashing down cleaving the man in half. One more Frey dead, one less worry for Lord Manderly, though Edwyn didn't know that.

Edwyn continued to cut and hack his way through the Bolton and Frey men who came towards him not sparing a thought for them, he was looking for someone in particular, and as he saw the flayed man sigil of House Bolton out the corner of his eye, Edwyn turned his horse and rode in that direction cutting down more men to get to the elusive Leech Lord.

Eventually Edwyn managed to get right in front of Lord Bolton's horse, lifting his visor Edwyn simply looked at the man who had also lifted his visor. Roose Bolton spoke first "Ah your grace so nice to finally see you. We were all so worried that the Ironborn would get the better of you. And thank you for getting rid of Ramsay for me, he was such a pain."

Edwyn was infuriated by how casual the man sounded, as if he hadn't stabbed his liege lord in the back. Edwyn could only grunt in reply and Storm seemed to be able to vent the anger Edwyn felt, as he growled at Lord Bolton, and also ripped out the throat of a soldier who had come to close.

Lord Bolton though it seemed was unfazed, for before he lowered his visor he said "Well your grace, seeing as you do not seem willing to speak, let us end this."

Edwyn pulled down his own visor and charged and Lord Bolton. He swung his sword and managed to strike a dent into Bolton's armour before the man had had a chance to even lift his sword. Edwyn moved away and then moved back in again and this time managed to cut across Bolton's chest before Bolton could so much as lift his shield to defend himself. He's old and weak on the battlefield Edwyn thought, one more strike and he will be dead.

Edwyn moved in for the kill at the same time Storm did. Storm leapt up and ripped out Lord Bolton's horse's throat, causing the horse to fall and causing Roose Bolton to fall as well. Edwyn dismounted from his horse and moved toward Lord Bolton at the time Bolton was struggling to his feet, Edwyn was stood right next him, and put his sword right next to Bolton's ribs, and whispered "The North Remembers Lord Bolton." Before he thrust his sword through Lord Bolton's armour and through his ribs, causing blood to come out of his mouth and by the time Edwyn had pulled his sword out and moved to mount his horse Lord Bolton had fallen to the ground dead.

**Highgarden**

Sansa felt giddy with excitement, she was getting married today. Margaery had arrived from King's Landing only three days ago and told Sansa that she would be marrying Willas today. Sansa was very, very happy. In the time she had spent in Highgarden she had come to know Lady Alerie, Lady Leonnette, Ser Garlan and Lord Willas very well, she found them all so friendly and kind, and after the horrors of King's Landing Sansa found that to be very reassuring.

She was taken out of her reverie by the sound of a knock on the door. Calling for whoever it was to come in, Sansa turned round and found herself facing Ser Garlan. It appeared that for once Ser Garlan didn't have any witty remark to say as he looked at her appearance, Sansa felt nervous she hoped she looked nice.

Ser Garlan put her nerves to rest by saying "I must say you look very lovely Lady Sansa, Willas is very lucky to be marrying you."

As he extended his arm to her, Sansa couldn't help but blush, taking his arm and walking with him as he escorted her to the Sept where she was to be married, Sansa couldn't help the feeling of sadness that crept into her thoughts, she dearly wished that her mother could be there to help her and advise her, it wasn't that Lady Alerie wasn't lovely, it was just that Sansa dearly missed her mother, but there was nothing she could do to change that now that her mother was gone. Edwyn and Arya- wherever she was- were her only family left to her now.

As they walked through the doors of the sept, Sansa looked toward the alter where Willas was standing, and Sansa let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding, he looked so lovely and handsome with his curly hair cut short, and in a green and gold doublet the colours of House Tyrell. As Garlan led her to the altar, Sansa could only pray fervently that the Lannisters didn't find some way to ruin what little happiness she had managed to get in Highgarden.

Upon reaching the alter, Garlan let go of her and Sansa stood facing Willas who gave her a small reassuring smile, she managed to smile back at him and listened as the Septon began to recite the vows that Sansa and Willas were saying, and as she said them along with Willas and then allowed Willas to remove the grey direwolf cloak that she had made herself, and replaced it with a green and gold one with roses on it, and as she kissed Willas sealing the marriage, for the first time Sansa Stark now Tyrell felt happy and safe. Growing Strong indeed.

**Across the Narrow Sea**

**The Black Cliffs**

Barristan Selmy watched as his Queen Danaerys surveyed the city that was below the cliffs. His queen had grown and was becoming a truly great and inspiring ruler she had conquered Astapor and Yunkai with war and had taken Meeren with words and negotiation saving countless lives. She had marched from Meeren and had left in the hands of the former slaves.

Her dragons had grown during their time in Meeren and could be used if required now to take Tolos.

"Ser Barristan what do you think I should do? Take Tolos with war or take it through negotiation like I took Meeren?" his queen asked him

Ser Barristan thought for a moment before speaking, the Tolosi were a proud people who were unlikely to be willing to bend the knee without a struggle, his queen would need to show them that she was no push over. "Your graces, The Tolosi are a difficult people to tame. But I would suggest going for negotiation first and if that fails then use the men that you have."

It appeared that Danaerys liked what he had suggested for she then said "Very good Ser Barristan, have Daario and Grey Worm go to the gates of Tolos under a banner of parley, and have them give the Tolosi the same terms I gave to Meeren."

"As you command your grace." Ser Barristan said before he left to do his queen's bidding.

**The Twins**

Catelyn Stark sat in her room in the Twins staring listlessly into space She had lost track of time since her brother's wedding, since she had seen her son and his men killed and butchered all around her whilst Walder Frey watched on with some sort of perverse satisfaction.

Catelyn hadn't escaped unharmed either, Ryman Frey had cut her neck with a knife and she had only just managed to survive thanks to Roslin's expert needlework, which had left her with stitches in her neck and apart from the pain in her back from where an arrow had hit her, Catelyn suffered from no other physical injuries. No the injuries she suffered from were all mental. She couldn't quite drive the image of Robb stumbling towards her before Roose Bolton had plunged a knife into him, Catelyn didn't know why she was still alive if anything she wished she could die as well so she could be reunited with Ned, Robb , Bran and Rickon.

She knew Edwyn her only surviving son was still alive for Olyvar had been kind enough to tell her that he had managed to defeat the Ironborn and had retaken Winterfell, Olyvar had also told her how her daughter Sansa was betrothed to Willas Tyrell, she felt happy that Sansa had finally managed to escape King's Landing but dreaded what that could mean for Edwyn, the Tyrells wouldn't have allowed Willas to marry Sansa unless they could gain something out of it, and at present Sansa was Edwyn's heir, what with Edwyn's Frey wife having died of a "fever."

Lady Catelyn prayed that Edwyn could live and would stay alive. But she also prayed that he would come for her, for she didn't know how long she could stay sane in this place that had become a living hell for her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Two Weeks Later**

**The Neck**

Edwyn Stark slept fitfully, his dreams were a mess of the screams of men dying in battle, blood and fire. There was always fire in his dreams, and it terrified him for whenever the fire started coming it was always greeted by maniacal laughter and then a red woman always appeared saying "Look to your sins Lord Stark, for the night is dark and full of terrors." Before she was swallowed by a great beast of ice, which always looked like a different member of Edwyn's family tonight, the beast looked like Robb.

"You betrayed me brother. We always said we'd leave this world together and yet you still live whilst I am dead. You failed to save Bran and Rickon. You are no true Stark." The creature with Robb's face said.

"No, please Robb please, I did everything you asked of me! I took back the north for you, Bran and Rickon are alive Robb, Theon didn't kill them, and Rickon's in Winterfell Robb please Robb you have to believe me!" Edwyn pleaded

The Ice Creature snorted "Believe you why should I believe you? You say Bran and Rickon are alive, but then why haven't you brought Bran back to Winterfell back home? Where is he then Ed, where is he?"

"I don't know Robb, I don't know I sent men to look for him, I've looked for him everywhere I don't know where he is Robb. Please you have to believe me." Edwyn was getting desperate now, he knew what would come next.

Sure enough the Ice Creature withdrew its sword from its sheath and marched toward Edwyn, and in tones of ice said "Edwyn of House Stark, I name you traitor and oathbreaker to your king. I hereby sentence you to death." But before the creature could swing the sword Edwyn was startled awake.

Gasping for air, he sat up in his bed and looked around his tent. It was empty apart from the bed he was sleeping on, a table where he wrote his letters and planned for battle and the pile of straw where Storm, his direwolf slept. Looking over to where Storm usually slept, Edwyn found the pile of straw empty, Storm was most likely out hunting, they'd spotted a lot of deer in the neck upon arriving there from Moat Catilin, where the 500 Karhold men that Roose Bolton had left to defend it had promptly bent the knee to Edwyn once he had arrived there. They'd lost a thousand men during the battle of the Barrowlands, but had gained two thousand more in the week that they had spent at the Moat. Men from White Harbour, Barrowtown, Flint's Finger and the neck itself had been added to their force.

They had moved to the neck just north of the Twins upon the arrival of Alysanne Mormont and Eddard Wull, who had managed to escape the butchery at the Twins, and had told Edwyn and his men the truth of the events that had occurred after Edwyn had marched north to deal with the Ironborn. As Edwyn heard of how, Robb had successfully managed to raid the Westerlands and had taken several strongholds along it, he felt a sense of pride well up along with a sense of deep sorrow, for when he was told of how upon taking the Crag Robb had received an arrow wound, and had had it treated by Jeyne Westerling, and had been making a steady recovery when news of Bran and Rickon's deaths had reached him he had sought comfort in Lady Jeyne's arms and after he had realised what he had done he had promptly married her to protect her honour. This of course had deeply angered the Freys who had promptly taken their men back to the Twins. Of course when Edwyn heard about how his mother had freed the Kingslayer in a bid to try and get Sansa and Arya back, and how Rickard Karstark had murdered to Lannister boys in retaliation, Edwyn couldn't help but despair.

Edwyn decided that he most likely wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep so he got up out of bed and decided to get dressed into a simple grey shirt and brown breeches. He nodded to his guards as he walked out of the tent and walked around the campsite, talking to the various men who were awake at this early hour.

As he finished walking round the campsite and made his way back to his tent he saw what looked like a letter lying on the ground in front of his tent. Curious, he picked up the letter and saw that it bore no seal, his interest further increased, Edwyn decided to open the letter and read it and what he read surprised him :

**Wolf,**

**There is a secret entrance into the Twins near the entrance to the Water Tower. Take three of your best men with you at first light whilst the castle still sleeps. The tower will be open to you and the men in the tower dead, the trout is kept in the second room on the second floor, take her and leave through the way you came. Then march south to Seagard. The Late Lord will be dead by the time you read this.**

Edwyn finished reading and was thoroughly intrigued by who had written this letter, it clearly had to have been someone from the Twins – Olyvar perhaps? - But how could they have gotten this letter here without someone seeing them? Was there a spy in the camp?

Edwyn turned to his guards and asked them "Did you see anyone approach the tent whilst away?"

The guards replied no, which left Edwyn even more intrigued who could it be. Taking the letter with him, he made to walk to Lord Howland's tent but before he left he said to the guards "Find Lady Mormont, Ser Perwyn, Mors Umber and Lady Alysanne and Lord Wull tell them to meet me at Lord Howland's tent in thirty minutes."

"Yes Your Grace." The guards replied.

Edwyn had some serious thinking to do.

**Castle Black**

Jon Snow, the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch sat in the main hall of Castle Black and sighed. Since Stannis Baratheon had arrived with his men and had helped them defeat the Wildlings, things had gotten much more complicated for the Watch. Stannis was demanding use of several of the Watch's castles most of which had been abandoned for centuries, and were in no fit state for human occupation. Eventually Jon had managed to get Stannis to agree to occupy the Nightfort, Greyguard and Icemark.

Of course Stannis had wanted to take the Wildlings who had decided to bend the knee to him, on his way south but of course Jon had argued to allow them to stay and help at the wall and fight the threat that was building there that would soon need the attention of everyone in the Seven Kingdoms.

Jon was brought back to the present by the sound of Stannis Baratheon, sitting down next to Jon. "So Lord Snow, since you are keeping the Wildlings, how do you suggest I get your usurper of a brother to bend the knee to his rightful king?"

Jon had to bite down on a snide comment he had felt coming, for Jon Edwyn was his rightful king but of course the Night's Watch takes no part in the squabbles of the realm, so instead he said "Your Grace, if you wish for Lord Edwyn to bend the knee to you, you will need to prove yourself to him."

Stannis looked even angrier than usual when he replied "Prove myself? Why on earth should I have to prove myself to get the allegiance of a boy who owes his allegiance to his rightful king?"

Jon had to bite back sighing, what was it with Stannis and claiming everything was rightfully his, Jon replied "because your grace Lord Edwyn is a proud man, and will not easily bend the knee to someone who he feels isn't strong enough to lead." It was true, Jon remembered growing up at Winterfell and whenever they had had mock battles, Edwyn would always, always either be on Robb or Jon's team but never Theon's. He wondered what that said about them as people, the fact that Robb was dead and Theon had been killed by Ed, but Jon and Edwyn were still alive.

"And how do you suggest that I prove myself to your brother then Lord Snow?" Stannis asked.

Jon hesitated before saying "You must fight alongside him, you grace. You have to prove that you can lead as well as you claim to be able to. Fight alongside my brother at the Twins or help him against the Lannisters and you will have his allegiance until he dies."

It seemed that Stannis had taken in Jon's words for he then said "Very Well then Lord Snow, I will be taking two thousand men with me to Eastwatch and from there sailing to White Harbour. Tell your brother to expect me." And with that Stannis Baratheon, got up and walked away.

**Old Wyk**

The Damphair shuddered as the cold winds blew. After news of the deaths of Victarion, Asha and Theon Greyjoy had reached Pyke, the Ironborn had despaired. Balon had been most distraught about the news of the death of Asha, the one whom he had been grooming as his heir for some time. Then the Storm God in his entire wrath had seen fit to send Balon plummeting to the Drowned God's watery halls, the same day as Euron Crow's Eye had returned to the Iron Isles after a very long exile.

The Damphair knew that the Crow's Eye had come to claim Balon's Driftwood Crown, and so he had called the kingsmoot the first in centuries to try and prevent the ungodly man who was his brother become the King of the Iron Isles.

His efforts had been in vain though. For the Crow's Eye had managed to win the people over by making promises to reclaim the glory that the Ironborn had held in the days of Harren the Black, and had promised to make the whole of the seven kingdoms bend the knee to the Ironborn, with that evil dragon horn of his that would bend the dragons of Danaerys Targaryen to his will. The Crow's Eye had been elected unanimously and had promptly sailed off to go raiding on the Westerlands.

The Damphair feared for the future of his people with the Crow's Eye king. For though Balon may have been many things, he was not mad. The Crow's Eye was mad and evil, and that was a despairing combination.

**King's Landing**

Tyrion Lannister looked on in horror as he saw his nephew King Joffrey choke to death at his wedding feast toe Margaery Tyrell. Everything had been moving along okay, until those blood dwarf jousters had come out and forced Tyrion to lose his cool, he had said somethings which looking back now may possibly be his undoing.

As he made to exit the hall, he heard his sister say "Knights of the Kingsguard stop that man. Stop the man who killed your king."

Oh bugger, Tyrion thought I've really had it now. Sure enough Ser Meryn and Ser Loras were soon upon him and were soon after orders from Lord Tywin escorting him out of the hall and toward a cell.

Meanwhile in the Great Hall as Cersei clung to Joffrey's lifeless body and Tywin Lannister ordered the body to be taken away, Olenna Tyrell the Queen of Thorns had a malicious glint in her eye, she had removed the boy who would have most likely harmed and abused her precious granddaughter and that was something that she could not and would not allow to happen. Now with Joffrey dead and the imp imprisoned it would be much easier to navigate the Lannisters downfall all they needed to do now was removed Lord Tywin from the picture and all the plans that she had had in place for the past sixteen years would come to fruition.

She only hoped her oaf of a son wouldn't give the game away and ruin everything, for they still had Stannis Baratheon to deal with before everything could be made perfect for the true king's return.


	10. Chapter 10

**The Neck/ Outside the Twins**

Edwyn Stark, rode at the head of the northern force of 4000 men that was riding toward the Twins to avenge all those who had perished at the Red Wedding because of Walder Frey's treachery. After having read the letter late last night, Edwyn had convened a war council in Howland Reed's tent to discuss the letter with his commanders, and they had all been of the opinion that the letter was very, very suspicious and that it was highly likely to be a trap set up by the Lannisters. But just in case it was not, they had agreed to muster the men and march toward the Twins at first light, and so they had.

The closer they got to the Twins, the more a sense of anticipation built up inside of Edwyn, he felt as if something major was going to happen today, what it was though he wasn't sure but he could tell that Storm felt it as well if his relentless running ahead and then coming back were any indication. Even some of Edwyn's battle commanders like Lady Mormont seemed quite nervous, if that was the right word to have. Clearly whoever had written that letter had probably expected that a sense of nerves would be ingrained in the northern camp as a result, and Edwyn couldn't help but feel weary that perhaps they were walking right into a trap of some kind.

He managed to shake that feeling off though when the Two Towers of House Frey came into view on the horizon. Signalling for the men to stop marching for a minute, Edwyn turned to Perwyn who was flanking him on his left hand side and said "Perwyn I want you to give orders that the men are to stay camped here, myself, you, Lady Mormont, Lord Howland and Lady Alysanne will be riding toward the Twins directly. Ed Wull is to wait for our signal before bringing the rest of the men in, and if things do go to shit, then you and the rest are to ride for safety, I will try and get to my mother if that is the case. Do you understand?"

Perwyn voiced his agreement but Edwyn could tell that he wasn't too happy with the plan, that had been created as they had marched through the neck that morning. Edwyn didn't want to endanger the men and was highly suspicious of the Twins and whoever it was that could be the lord of the place now, if Late Walder Frey truly was dead.

He then proceeded to unsheathe his sword, and raised high in the air and raised toward the Twins giving the signal for the main party to ride forward, and as he galloped of toward the Twins Edwyn deeply hoped that they weren't riding into a trap.

As they rode through the last part of the neck and entered Riverland territory, Edwyn noted that the lands were surprisingly empty of any sign of habitation. This worried Edwyn, had he sealed his own death warrant, were they about to be attacked by Freys and Lannisters?

As they continued riding and soon found the Twins only a short distance away and still found no open sign of habitation close to the Twins, Edwyn was deeply worried now. He had a feeling that something bad was truly going to happen.

It was with some surprise that Edwyn and his party saw the gates of the Twins wide open, and three people standing in the entrance, almost as if they were expecting them. As Edwyn and his company rode right to the gates, he let out a cry "MOTHER!" For there was Lady Catelyn, Edwyn's mother standing there in the entrance to the Twins looking hale and healthy, and with a smile upon her face, and standing next to her were Olyvar Frey and The Greatjon Umber.

**King's Landing**

"Tyrion is guilty father, he killed Joffrey. Why can't we just have Ser Ilyn chop his head off now and be done with it?!" Cersei said

"Because, even though he is many things your brother is a Lannister of Casterly Rock and a member of the royal family, and as I am Hand of King, the law dictates that he have a trial." Tywin Lannister replied.

It seemed that Cersei was not done yet though for she then said "Well then why don't we have the trial today then? I have enough witnesses who can put Tyrion at the scene of the crime and also swear that he was the one who killed Joffrey through poisoning his wedding chalice. Why don't we have the trial today and have done with it?"

It seemed this was the final nail in the coffin for Tywin's patience "Because there are Ironborn raiding and raping their way through the Westerlands, and because the northmen have taken the Twins. If we are to consolidate Tommem's hold on the throne these threats need to be dealt with. Tyrion's trial can be held at a later date."

This was how the meeting of the small council had been going for the past few hours and Jamie was utterly bored with it. He had arrived in the capital in the early hours of the morn, to find the city in mourning. Joffrey had been died at his own wedding feast the night before, and Cersei was accusing their brother.

Jamie found it hard to believe that Tyrion would do such a thing. True there was no love lost between him and Joffrey, but Tyrion was no killer, someone else must have slipped the poison into Joffrey's drink and despite himself Jamie couldn't help thinking that perhaps Joffrey had deserved his fate, the rumours he had heard whilst he had been making his way back to King's Landing had made Joffrey sound like Aerys come again.

Jamie was simply glad that Cersei hadn't suggested a trial by combat for Tyrion yet, for he knew that she would expect him to fight for Joffrey, for her. This was not the first time that Jamie had felt torn between his two siblings; it was not the first time that they had put him in a situation where he would have to choose between them, but for the first time Jamie seemed to be seeing Cersei in a much clearer light. He had returned in the early hours this morning and had made straight for her chambers, to make love to her again, and as he had stood in front of her door, he heard her moaning with pleasure, the way she had moaned for him when they had fucked. Jamie had pushed the door open slightly to see what was going on, and had been horrified and heartbroken to see Cersei fucking another man.

Jamie was brought back from his thoughts by the sound of his father speaking to him. "I'm sorry father could you repeat what you said, sorry?"

Tywin grimaced before saying "You and I shall lead a force of 4000 men each to the Westerlands to rid our home of the Ironborn then you shall march north to Riverrun to lift the siege there is that clear."

**Castamere**

Ser Harris Harlaw, second in command of the Ironborn forces was cutting down men left right and centre, the Ironborn invasion of the Westerlands had been a major success under King Euron.

Since Euron had been crowned, the Ironborn had set sail and had captured and plundered spoils from the Banefort, The Crag, Fair Isle and now Castamere. Their orders were simple invade the Westerlands, destroy any armed resistance that came their way, rape the women if they felt the need, and most of all take anything of value that they came across.

As they were in Castamere they had managed to take quite a bit of gold from the gold mines that made the place wealthy, they had killed the guards of the mines and had taken the gold and now were getting ready to get back onto their ships for the big prize Casterly Rock and complete control of the Westerlands.

**Tolos**

Barristan Selmy, hacked and cut his way through the men of Tolos. The city had rejected Danaerys offer of a peaceful surrender and had instead sent back the heads of their envoys. Leading to Danaerys commanding her forces to attack the city.

So far they had been relatively successful, Tolos only had about 2000 soldiers to protect it and compared to the might of all the sellsword companies, the unsullied and the dragons who were being used for the first time in battle, Tolos did not stand a chance.

Barristan cut down a man who had been about to try and get to Danaerys. Once the man had been cut down, Danaerys laid a hand on his shoulder and said "Enough Ser Barristan, Tolos is ours their soldiers have all been killed."

Barristan sheathed his sword and bowed and then walked back to stand beside his queen. Danaerys looked even more regal than she had before the battle, dressed in the flowing silks of the east, she looked every bit the queen that she was meant to.

But she had the mind of a ruler, and when she was presented with the previous rulers of Tolos she spoke to them in tones of iron "I offered you a peaceful surrender and you chose war. This is what happens to those who chose war with me. I am giving you this one chance, bend the knee to me and you shall live if not, then I will be forced to kill you."

It seemed that two of the Tolosi were willing to become part of Danaerys entourage for they immediately bowed their heads and swore themselves to her cause, but the remaining three simply spat at her feet and remained defiant.

Danaerys sighed and said "Very well then, Rakharo take these three men and behead them and mount their heads on the walls of the city."

* * *

**King's Landing**

Tyrion Lannister sat in his cell in the Red Keep and brooded. He was being accused of poisoning his nephew Joffrey, and for the crimes of kinslaying and kingslaying he was to be put to death, if he was found guilty in a trial.

Of course knowing his sister she was more than likely finding enough witnesses to ensure that he was put to death for a crime that he had not committed. Tyrion had had no idea that the chalice was poisoned when he had served it to Joffrey, he had simply thought that the boy had chocked on his pigeon pie for he had after all been talking with his mouth open.

Tyrion did have his suspicious that perhaps the Tyrells were involved in Joffrey's death somehow. After all why would they wish for their precious Margaery to marry a monster like Joffrey, when she could marry sweet little Tommem and be able to rule through him. And of course Lord Tywin, Tyrion's father wouldn't dare to do anything that could potentially cause a fracture in the Lannister- Tyrell alliance and perhaps push the Tyrells into the arms of either Stannis Baratheon or Edwyn Stark.

No Tyrion would be convicted of Joffrey's murder and be put to death. But first he really wanted to find out how the poison had been slipped into that wedding chalice. If it were really the Tyrells they were playing a very dangerous game, chancing it that the poison would only take effect on Joffrey and not Margaery who if Tyrion's memory served him correctly was also drinking from that Chalice.

If the Tyrells were involved with Joffrey's murder, Tyrion wondered what their endgame was, rule through Tommem? To do that they'd need to remove Tyrion's father and the Tyrells were many things but stupid they were not. No that couldn't be it there had to be some ulterior motive that Olenna Tyrell- for Tyrion was convinced it was the Queen of Thorns who was responsible for Joffrey's death not Mace- other than ruling through Tommem. If only he could figure out what it was.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Twins**

Catelyn Stark sat next to her son in the great hall of the Twins, eating and drinking with the men that Edwyn had brought with him to free her and the other northmen who had been held prisoner since her brother Edmure's ill fated wedding.

Catelyn still couldn't believe that this was actually happening; she had spent so long in the Twins being subjected to Walder Frey's perverse sense of humour that she had begun to give up hope of ever truly being free again, and had started to harden her heart to stone to be able to cope with her imprisonment at the Twins. But then Roslin had told her that morning that Edwyn her son- her only living son- was coming for her with 4000 men and that Walder Frey had been killed in the night. By whom it was still uncertain, but when Catelyn had been led out of her room she had seen the guards that had been posted in front of her room dead, and as she and Roslin made their way through, they found even more guards dead, only to run into the Greatjon and several other northmen as well as Ser Marq Piper, whom she had later discovered had also been freed from their imprisonment and had set about killing any Frey man they could get their hands on.

Her reunion with her son had been a very emotional one, when she had seen him ride through the gates of the Twins she had literally had to restrain herself from running to him and holding him, her son, her little boy Edwyn had grown up so much since she had last seen him at Riverrun all those years ago, back when Robb was still alive. There had been lots of crying and hugging going on for most of the morning and afternoon, and Edwyn had stayed right by her side through all of it, seemingly reluctant to move from her side as if he was scared that if he did so she would disappear. Catelyn could relate to her son's fears, for she felt them as well and stayed close to him as well.

She was taken out of her reverie by the sound of her son's voice close to her ear, "Mother are you feeling ok?"

Catelyn looked up to face her son, who looked so much like Ned it hurt, and smiled a weak smile "Yes Ed, I'm fine. I'm just happy your here."

Edwyn smiled, "Me too mother, there's something I need to tell you as well. "

Catelyn looked to her son to see what it could be that he needed to tell her, nodding for him to continue, she quickly looked around to see that no one else was listening.

What Edwyn said next stunned her to her very core "Theon didn't kill Bran and Rickon. They managed to escape before he could, and he failed to capture them, so he killed two millers boys instead. When I retook Winterfell he told me this, and I led a search party and found Rickon, Shaggydog and Osha camped on the very edge of the Wolfswood. Rickon's in Winterfell now with Ser Rodrik and Maester Luwin."

Catelyn was speechless, but she noticed how he mentioned only Rickon "You said both Bran and Rickon were alive Ed, could you not find Bran?"

At this Edwyn gave a grim nod and said "I looked everywhere mother, but I couldn't find him. I even asked the wildling woman Osha but she didn't know where he could have gone. He went with the Reed Children, but Lord Howland hasn't been able to tell me where they could have gone. I've sent ravens to all the houses of the North informing them of this and telling them to write to Winterfell if they see Bran. I'm sorry mother."

Catelyn sighed "It's not your fault Ed, Theon was a traitor. Once Riverrun is secure we'll return home and find Bran."

Edwyn nodded, and then rose from his seat, which Catelyn was impressed to see silenced the whole hall. He then spoke with what Catelyn was coming to view as his Lord's voice "My Lords and Ladies, I thank you all for coming here tonight. After the treachery that was the Red Wedding, I thought that perhaps House Stark and Frey would still be bitter enemies, but after the events of this morning and the deaths of the Late Walder Frey and Lothar Frey, I believe that we can be friends once more. Ser Perwyn has been a loyal ally as has his brother Olyvar; they have been a redeeming light for Freys everywhere. It is for this that I invite my aunt by marriage Lady Roslin to speak."

Catelyn noted how many of the Freys in attendance were shifting nervously on their seats, not because of some hidden plot of theirs, but because they knew that what Edwyn had said was the truth, even during her time as a captive, Catelyn had heard how her son was being called the Ironbreaker by his men, how he had managed to defeat and kill men as skilled at war as Victarion Greyjoy and Roose Bolton, and how he smashed their armies. That in itself was something for them to fear, and Catelyn thought that House Frey needed to learn a bit of fear.

She noticed that Roslin had gotten up to speak, Roslin Catelyn had found had been a great help for her during her time in captivity and she dearly liked the girl, Edmure was very fortunate to have married such a lovely girl.

"My Lords, Ladies, Your Grace, It is with great honour as Lady Tully representative of my husband Lord Edmure that I name my brother Ser Perwyn as the Lord of the Crossing."

Catelyn heard a great deal of murmuring broke out into the hall at this pronouncement, and turning to look at her son, she saw that he seemed unfazed, she leaned in closer to whisper to him "You planned all of this didn't you Ed?"

He merely smiled at her and said "Of course mother, we march for Riverrun tomorrow after all."

**Casterly Rock**

Harras Harlaw cut down one westermen after another, and let out a laugh that was caught between being mad and hysterical. The Ironborn fleet under the command of King Euron had landed at Lannisport and had proceeded to burn the Lannister fleet, before marching on the Rock killing all those who stood in their way before finally come to the base of the hill that the legendary Lannister stronghold stood on.

They had managed to scale the hill, unharmed and then had managed to kill whatever red cloaks had been present before storming into the castle and killing the guards there. Now it was just a simple job of killing the castellan and Casterly Rock would be theirs. At least that had been the case before men led by Lord Roland Crakehall had arrived to make things difficult for the ironmen still at the bottom of the hill. Harras had been charged with mounting a protection effort and preventing those forces from climbing the hill, so far they had been largely successful only a few dozen had made up and they had quickly been killed.

Harras Harlaw stopped his manic swinging when he heard the sound of horn being blown. Euron's Dragon horn. The Rock was theirs.

**Highgarden**

Sansa read the letter that Willas had presented to her and let out a triumphant laugh, turning to face Willas she saw that he had a huge smile on his face, getting up from her chair she threw her arms around him and kissed him square on the mouth, before pulling away.

"He's dead Willas, he's dead. Joffrey's dead and he can't do anyone anymore harm! Oh I'm so relived for Margaery. She'll be able to come home now won't she? She'll come home right Willas?"

Willas smiled before replying "Yes she will sweet girl, grandmother wrote that Lord Tywin has asked father to take Storm's End and send Margaery home, whilst he deals with the Ironborn before they talk about another royal marriage. But grandmother says she won't letter father marry Margaery to Tommem or another Lannister."

"But then who will she marry Willas? I thought that Margaery always wanted to be queen? If she doesn't marry Tommem, who will she marry?" Sansa asked intrigued.

"Grandmother says that she's coming home with Margaery, and that they'll discuss it here." Willas replied.

**King's Landing**

"Remember, when we return back to Highgarden, speak to Sansa about her brother, but ask discreetly we don't want her getting any inclination of what we're about."

"Yes grandmother, I will." Margaery replied

"Good, now if your oaf of a father doesn't mess things up to badly, we may be able to end up on the winning side of this war after all." Olenna Tyrell said more to herself than to Margaery.

Ever since Joffrey's death at his and Margaery's wedding, Margaery's father had been trying to persuade Tywin Lannister, the hand of the king to marry Margaery to Tommem, who was now King. As much as Margaery wished to be Queen she didn't really wish to be married to Tommem, as sweet as he was he was only a boy.

Thankfully for her, her grandmother seemed to have to more sense than her father and had told Margaery that if she had her way, Margaery would be a queen, but not of the Iron Throne but of the side that was most likely to come out victorious from this war, the North.

**Across The Narrow Sea**

Ashara Dayne now known as Septa Lemore watched as Rolly and Aegon trained on the brow of the Shy Maid, she had been living as Septa Lemore for seventeen years now, and had become so engrossed in the faith that she almost didn't remember her life or her loves and losses experienced as Ashara Dayne. Thankfully though she hadn't become like those old septas that she had known as a child and a young lady back in Westeros all old and no fun at all, Aegon had ensured that. What with his cheekiness and humour he was like Elia, but healthier.

"The Spider sent a raven." Ashara was so startled by the sound of Jon's voice that she nearly jumped with shock. Instead she managed to school her features into a well worn mask and turned to him to ask "What does he say?"

Jon sighed and said "The Lannisters have firmly alienated the Reach by refusing to allow Mace Tyrell's daughter to marry the boy king. They are also facing Ironborn attacks in the West, in fact the Ironborn have mounted an attack on Casterly Rock he writes."

"And what of our king's bride, what news does the Spider have of her." Ashara asked

"She is in Tolos, ruling. He writes that if she does not make it to Volantis within the next moon's turn to head down and take the Golden Company and move west ourselves." Jon replied.

Ashara was intrigued by this, the plan had always been to meet up with Danaerys in Volantis with the Golden Company and then sail for Westeros "Is that wise? How do we know that the situation will be right in a moon's turn for us to return to Westeros?"

Jon sighed again and said "We do not, but we can't wait for the Mother of Dragons forever, the chaos the spider is reaping will only last for so long."

**Outside Riverrun**

Lord Piper looked at the letter in front of him, and then looked at Lord Smallwood, the man who had shown him the letter.

"You are sure that this letter is real my lord? Not some trick by the Lannisters or the Freys?"

Lord Smallwood nodded "I'm sure of it my lord, we all heard how King Edwyn smashed the Boltons at the Barrowlands, there is no reason why he couldn't have taken the Twins. The Lannisters wouldn't name Perwyn Frey as Lord of the Crossing would they, he is known to be loyal to the Ironbreaker."

Lord Piper sighed "Very well then, I will send a raven to Lords Blackwood and Bracken and tell them to join us. We have lions and weasels to kill."


	12. Chapter 12

**Two Weeks Later**

**Riverrun**

Edmure Tully looked around the great hall of Riverrun and still couldn't believe his luck. He'd been brought to the gallows almost every day for the past few months since his wedding to Roslin, and had woken almost everyday believing that it would be his last. But for some reason Ryman Frey didn't seem to have the balls to actually end his life. Either that or he was too drunk to do so.

The Riverlords under the leadership of Lords Piper, Vance and Smallwood had made no attempts to end Edmure's suffering during his months on the gallows in front of his home. So he had been thoroughly surprised when one day two weeks ago, he had heard a commotion from outside his tent, and had just been about to go and see what all the commotion was when, Lord Piper had come bursting into the tent, and had said "Lord Tully, come with me please, with killed those Frey bastards but your uncle doesn't seem to believe us."

Edmure had been completely surprised, but as he listened to Lord Piper explain what had happened everything began to make more sense. It seemed Lords Piper, Vance and Smallwood had decided to remember who they actually owed fealty to and had decided to turn on the Frey- Lannister soldiers who were laying siege to Riverrun. Lord Vance's son Ser Ronald had snuck into Devan Lannister's tent in the dead of the night and had slit his throat. Once Devan Lannister's body had been found by some Lannister soldiers, Emmon Frey had been hung by soldiers loyal to house Smallwood, and in the ensuing struggle Ryman, Raymund and Edwyn Frey had all either been hung or stabbed to death. The Frey soldiers had either fled only to be massacred by the combined Blackwood- Bracken forces marching from Raventree Hall, and the Lannister soldiers had been put to the sword.

Edmure had entered Riverrun victorious and for once it seemed his uncle was relieved to see him. The Blackfish had never been one to openly convey his emotions, but when Edmure walked through the gates of Riverrun his uncle had hugged him so tightly Edmure had feared that he wouldn't be able to breathe. There had been one major captive during the fighting to lift the siege of Riverrun, Tywin Lannister's sister Genna Lannister, now widowed was being held in rooms befitting her station, but away from the Westerlings.

Edmure had been furiously curious as to why Lords Piper, Vance, Smallwood and Bracken had suddenly been so keen to see him restored to his family seat, and upon asking Lord Vance was greeted with the news that his nephew Edwyn Stark had taken the Twins, and was marching to Riverrun. Edmure had never been so surprised in his life. He'd completely forgotten about Robb's twin brother, the one who had been sent to rid the north of the Ironborn and had apparently been so successful in doing so he'd earnt himself the name Ironbreaker.

Edmure wondered how he'd react to meeting Jeyne Westerling, the woman who his brother had died for marrying. If what Cat had told him about Edwyn was true it was likely to be a very awkward encounter even more so because Edmure had the feeling that Jeyne's mother would try and force Edwyn into marrying the poor girl. Of course Edmure had now way for knowing for certain, he'd sent a raven to Seagard and to the Twins to let them know that House Tully was back in Riverrun and to tell them to inform his nephew of the news should the see him.

**Deep Den**

Jamie had never seen his father so wroth before. A raven had just reached the Lannister camp at Deep Den detailing the defeat of the Lannister-Frey forces at Riverrun and the restoration of the Edmure Tully as Lord of Riverrun. Apparently some of the riverlords had turned their cloaks and had promptly attacked and massacred the combined forces of the Lannisters and the Freys during the night some two weeks ago, starting with the killing of Jamie's cousin Devan, who'd been found with his throat slit.

Lord Tywin was wroth, Jamie could tell his father was torn between wanting to march straight for Riverrun to teach the riverlords a lesson, and wanting to march straight ahead for Casterly Rock where word had come from in the form of Maester Creylen's neat hand in a raven detailing the sacking of Lannisport and the Rock by Euron Crow's Eye.

So it came as no surprise to him when his father informed him that he would be leading a host of 4000 men north to deal with the riverlords at Riverrun. Whilst his father continued on with his host of men to the rock. Jamie could only be thankful that Catelyn Stark was dead, he couldn't bear to hear what she would have had to say if she knew that he'd be breaking another oath and taking up arms against her family.

**King's Landing**

Tyrion felt so very bored, he'd been locked in his cell now for roughly a month now and had had no visitors apart from occasionally his uncle Kevan who'd come down to tell him the goings on of the city above him.

From what he could gather whilst his father and Jamie were off trying to deal with the Ironborn, Cersei was collecting witnesses who could testify against Tyrion should he ever be taken to trial. As Tyrion had no one who would legitimately stand and defend him, he was resigned to his fate, he supposed death wouldn't be so bad, at any rate it would be preferable to living his current existence bored out of his mind and not even aloud the chance to fuck Shae one last time.

Tyrion knew that Cersei had deeply slighted the Tyrells by outright refusing to marry Margaery Tyrell to Tommem and had instead sent Mace Tyrell off with 30,000 men to take Storm's End for the crown and had ordered him to send the remainder of his men home with Margaery. Something that according to Uncle Kevan Mace had done albeit very reluctantly.

Tyrion was glad in a sense that the Tyrells were gone from the capital for the time being. He didn't think he could stand being in this cell and knowing that they most definitely had had something to do with Joffrey's death, but of course he would be powerless to do anything about it. He knew that despite her hatred toward the Tyrells Cersei would simply ignore what he said simply to spite him and his father would have to dismiss what he said so as not to further slight the Tyrells and drive them into the arms of Stannis Baratheon or Edwyn Stark who he had heard from the talk amongst his jailers had managed to take the Twins, free the northmen held captive there and kill Walder Frey.

"I never you knew you to be such a deep thinker my lord." Tyrion startled he hadn't even heard the man walk in, let alone expected to see him here.

"Ah Lord Varys such a lovely surprise. And pray tell what brings you here?" Tyrion asked.

Varys gave one of his annoying little titters and said "Why justice my lord."

Tyrion didn't like the sound of that and so he hesitantly asked "Justice, Varys what do you mean surely you don't believe that I killed Joffrey?"

Varys tittered again "Of course not my lord. No this is a different sort of justice that has brought me here."

Tyrion was intrigued "Go on."

Varys smiled "I take it that you have heard that you sister is trying to gain as many witnesses as she possibly can against you my lord?"

Tyrion nodded

"Well my lord I can safely say, that despite what your sister thinks or wishes to believe, she will never be able to use those witnesses against you." Tyrion's heart gave a little jump what did Varys mean.

"What do you mean Varys? Have you found out who actually poisoned Joffrey was it the Tyrells?"

Varys tittered again "Oh my lord does suspicion of the Tyrells run so deep in the family? No it was not the Tyrells. At least not all of the Tyrells were involved. No Littlefinger was responsible for Joffrey's death."

"Littlefinger? How could he responsible? He's leagues away fucking Lysa Arryn and ruling in her brat of a son's name." Tyrion replied.

Varys smiled enigmatically "Ah but you see Lord Tyrion, he is and he isn't. I can not reveal all i know about what happened on Joffrey Baratheon's wedding night, but I can tell you that Littlefinger was the one responsible for the wine being filled in the chalice. But alas my lord time is of the essence and if you wish to escape, you shall need to hurry for the hour grows late and I am needed elsewhere."

Tyrion was surprised "Your helping me escape? How?"

"Well my lord if you follow me, you shall see." And with that Varys took a key from out of his pocket and opened the door to Tyrion's cell. Stepping out of his cell Tyrion breathed in the smell of freedom

"Quickly my lord follow me, we do not have long."

Tyrion followed Varys out of the room where he was being kept, he noticed his guards were unconscious , dreamwine he suspected. Following Varys through one of the secret passageways out of the Red Keep, Tyrion soon found himself approaching the docks of the King's Landing.

Stopping he turned round to face Varys. "Continue walking straight on Lord Tyrion, and when you reach the first ship on your left stop and ask for Zogo, on the ship you will find your friends waiting for you. The ship will take you across the narrow sea."

Tyrion was about to ask why Varys was doing this for him but the eunuch cut him off and said "I believe that we all deserve some right and some happiness in our lives Lord Tyrion. Besides justice has not yet come for those who have need of it the most, and for that I bid you farewell."

**Oldstones**

Edwyn read the letter that Olyvar had given him and had to read it thrice more before the words truly began to sink in. His uncle had been restored to Riverrun, the combined Lannister Frey forces had been defeated and massacred due to the help from Lords Piper, Vance, Smallwood, Blackwood and Bracken.

Edwyn got up still holding the letter and walked over to where his mother was sitting talking to Lord Howland. When they noticed him Lord Howland stopped talking and got up to bow "Your Grace." He said.

"What's that you've got in your hand there Ed?" His mother asked him

"It's a letter from Riverrun mother. Uncle Edmure's is back within its halls and the Lannister and Frey forces that were laying siege to it have been destroyed." Edwyn replied.

His mother took the letter from him and read it, then she looked up, smiled and then hugged Edwyn very tightly. Before saying "We must still go to Riverrun to help secure it before we can return home."

Edwyn nodded. Before saying "What were you and Lord Howland talking about mother?"

His mother seemed rather abashed by the question though he couldn't understand why. "We were just talking about old times, mainly the Tourney of Harrenhal."

"Oh, really. Could I listen as well?" Edwyn asked, he'd heard about the famous Tourney of Harrenhal but had never asked his father or mother about it before.

"Of course Your Grace." Was the reply from Lord Howland.

He resumed his story " Now after the fighting, Lord Eddard, myself, Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull and Mark Ryswell rode hard for the Tower of Joy where Ned had learnt was where Prince Rhaegar had kept Lady Lyanna during the rebellion-"

Edwyn interrupted "Sorry Lord Howland but I thought you were speaking to my mother about the Tourney of Harrenhal."

Lord Howland merely smiled and said "We were and this story is connected to that one because this one is what happened as a result of that one."

He continued on, "We rode hard for several weeks, Ned most of all, he rode like a man possessed even on the Trident he didn't seem to have so much determination as he did then. As we arrived at the Tower we found it protected by three of the finest knights of the Kingsguard, Lord Commander Ser Gerold Hightower, Sword of the Morning Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Oswell Whent. Ned asked them where they had been for the whole of the rebellion and they merely stated that they had been at the Tower, an admission which was beginning to confirm some of Ned's suspicions. But the fighting was fierce, all involved fought with a fervour not seen before first to fall was old Ser Gerold not the knight he had been in his prime, but it still took Martyn and Theo to bring him down. Ser Oswell seemed to pick up where Ser Gerold had left of and soon managed to fell both Martyn and Theo, before he fell to Ned who was fighting with such passion and anger, whilst we heard Lyanna's screams coming from the Tower which only seemed to add to his determination to get to her. Ser Arthur meanwhile had managed to fell Willam, Mark Ryswell and Ethan, and had engaged in a furious duel with Ned, knocking him to the ground and was about to kill him when I struck him from behind with my spear like a craven." Lord Howland paused and Edwyn noticed that there were silent tears running down his face, it was clear that even after all these years the memory still haunted him.

Lord Howland continued "With the knights of the Kingsguard dead, Ned ran up the stairs of the Tower like a man possessed, running whilst we heard Lyanna's screams getting fainter and fainter, until we finally found her at the top of the tower in the a bed of blood, one hand clutching a crown of blue roses the other holding a newborn babe. With her dying breath she procured a promise from Ned that I know haunted him till his dying day."

Lord Howland stopped speaking and didn't look like he was going to be continuing anytime soon but Edwyn needed to know what this promise was for he suddenly realised something, something he had long guessed about but never truly comprehended looking to his mother he could see that she was dying to know as well "My lord what was the promise?"

Lord Howland looked up at Edwyn then at Edwyn's mother as he spoke "Lyanna made sure that before she died, that she had ensured that Ned promised to take care of and protect her child from those who would use him and hurt him. To raise him as his own flesh and blood. Till his dying day."

And suddenly Ed felt like a massive weight had just hit his chest and he knew that his feelings were being felt by his mother when he heard her whisper "Jon Snow."

Lord Howland said "Yes my lady, Jon Snow was never Ned's bastard son. He was Rhaegar and Lyanna's trueborn child. After the sack he was the rightful king of the seven kingdoms. The day Ned took him back with us, was the day he changed the fate of Westeros and spared it from bloody warfare for many a year all at a cost to himself and to his marriage to you my lady."

Edwyn got up feeling disorientated, but not before he heard his mother sob "Oh Ned."


	13. Chapter 13

**Two weeks later**

**Riverrun**

Edwyn sat in the room he had been given in Riverrun and thought about the events of the past few weeks. Since they had left the Twins things had been very complicated. First of all there was still the mystery of who had actually killed Walder Frey and freed the northmen who were being held prisoner in the Twins, not that Edwyn was complaining about it, it was just that he couldn't help wondering what exactly the person or persons who were behind the freeing of Edwyn's fellow countrymen could want in return. Secondly when they had been camped at Oldstones word had reached them from Seagard that the Mallisters had retaken control of their castle and town and had put Black Walder and his soldiers to the sword, which was reassuring for Edwyn as it meant that there were now fewer Freys for him to have to deal with. Third of all Edwyn was still reeling from the revelation of Jon Snow's actual parentage, the fact that Jon wasn't actually his brother but his cousin and was technically the actual rightful heir to the Iron Throne, severely scared Edwyn, he wondered whether or not Jon knew the truth or not and whether he would decide to act on it or not. He could tell that the revelation had deeply hit his mother, for she had been very quiet on the march down to Riverrun, and had only seemed to come back to any semblance of how she had been before being told the truth when she had been reunited with her brother and uncle at the gates of Riverrun.

Edwyn supposed that it would be better if he just let things lie for the time being, and figured that if his mother wanted to speak of it, she would do so in her own time. Upon their arrival in Riverrun, his uncle Edmure and the riverlords present at Riverrun had resworn their allegiance to the King In the North, and a raven had been sent out to Randyll Tarly demanding the release of Robett Glover and Harrion Karstark.

There was one other issue that Edwyn had to face, but which he had been trying to avoid for the week that they had been in Riverrun. Having an actual conversation with his dead brother's widow and her mother. When they had been at the Twins Edwyn had managed to persuade Perwyn to consent to marrying Jeyne Westerling, and Edwyn had managed to get his mother round to agreeing to this because if he was being honest with himself Edwyn didn't think he could bear being married to Jeyne and waking up next to her everyday for the rest of their lives knowing that she should have been Robb's, he could deal with enemies in battle but this was one mountain that he felt he couldn't climb.

He was taken out of his reverie when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in" He said.

The door to his room opened to reveal his mother and his uncle and his great uncle all of whom promptly walked into his room, Edwyn was surprised to see them and so asked "Mother, uncles what brings you here today? Is something a miss?"

It was his great uncle the Blackfish who replied "Aye your grace, we've come to warn you that Lady Jeyne and her mother are coming to your room right now to speak with you."

Edwyn was surprised that they were coming to speak with him now, he'd thought that he'd be able to put it off for a few more days atleast. But it seemed the gods weren't about to answer this prayer of his, for he heard his door knock again, and this time the person on the other side didn't wait to be called in before they opened the door. Edwyn found himself looking at Jeyne Westerling and her mother, he did have to admit that Jeyne was quite a lovely looking girl, and he could understand why Robb may have been attracted to her, but he didn't think that she deserved being killed for. But he couldn't voice that aloud so instead he said "Ah Lady Jeyne, Lady Sybell how nice to finally meet you. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He could tell Jeyne was scared of him, but her mother simply snorted then said "We have come Lord Stark, to discuss what you wish to do with my daughter your good-sister and the Queen of the North."

Edwyn felt his mother tense next to him, and he himself had to suppress the urge to yell at the woman, instead in as calm a voice as he could manage he replied " Ah yes. Well I was waiting for him to get here but I suppose I might as well tell you now." Edwyn paused, the continued "I have spoken with Lord Perwyn of the Crossing, and he has agreed to marry Lady Jeyne and have her become the new lady of the crossing. Is that sufficient for you?"

Edwyn could tell that out of all the things she had expected him to say that was not one of them Lady Sybell seemed quite speechless, whilst Jeyne looked quite relieved. However, it seemed that Sybell Westerling just had to voice whatever problems she had with this announcement "She's marrying a Frey? You would have my daughter, your queen marry a Frey after what they did to your brother? Have you taken leave of your senses Lord Stark?"

Edwyn felt his mother stiffen beside him, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Storm getting agitated, taking a deep breath he then said "No Lady Sybell I have not taken leave of my senses. Is Jeyne pregnant that I must address her as your grace?" He paused he could see the answer quite clearly written all over Jeyne's face, no she was not pregnant. "I take your silence to mean that no she is not pregnant. And as such that would make me, my brother's heir, so technically you should be addressing me as your grace not Lord Stark. But enough about that. Lord Perwyn is a good and loyal man, he will treat Jeyne kindly and with the respect she deserves. This is more than what I can say for you, my lady. I have heard it said that you plotted with Tywin Lannister to have my brother killed. Do not try and deny it, your guilt is clear all over your face. No whilst your daughter goes to the Twins and lives the rest of her life with Lord Perwyn, you shall spend the rest of your days here in Riverrun, but not as a guest no, as a traitor you shall be left to rot in the dungeons till you learn the meaning of honour. Now get out of my sight both of you." Edwyn knew that perhaps he had spoken more harshly than was completely necessary but he found his anger with the Westerlings growing more and more, the more time they spent in his presence, and he had to dismiss them from the room before Storm lashed out at them.

As he watched them walk out of his room, he felt himself as well as his mother relax beside him. "Well that could have been worse eh?" He said to his mother, who merely smiled in response.

However, it appeared that his uncle wasn't done, for he had a letter in hand and said " This came whilst you were resting your grace. It appears the Lannisters under the Kingslayer are laying siege to Wayfarers Rest.

**Casterly Rock**

The lions had attacked in the dead of the night. The castle had been asleep when the first sounds of commotion had drifted through to Harras's chambers. He'd woken up to the sounds of screaming men and the sight of fire; it appeared that the Lions were trying to prevent the men from leaving. He'd quickly got changed into his armour and had drawn his sword and ran toward the sounds of the commotion to be met by the sight of an absolute bloodbath.

The Lannisters had clearly had help from the inside, the Ironborn's ships were all of fire and it appeared most of the men were dead, Harras was only glad that King Euron had left the day before with twelve ships including the Silence for a voyage to bring the Dragon Queen back to Westeros.

Anymore chance for clear thought was quickly ruined when Harras found himself dodging a swipe of a blade from the Mountain that Rides. He managed to get his sword up in time again as the Mountain swung at him again and again, the Mountains swung and Harras managed to block, but he didn't have the strength to mount any attack of his own, and soon found Nightfall being knocked out of his hands, and as he felt the Mountain's sword being plunged into his stomach and felt the blood come gushing out of his mouth and saw the world turn black Harras Harlaw could simply think that the dead would rise again.

**King's Landing**

Lord Varys sat in the small council chamber listening to Queen Regent Cersei Lannister rant and complain about treachery being round every corner, she sounded dangerously similar to old Aerys the first king Varys had served under, and not for the first time since Lord Tywin had left for the Westerlands, Varys found himself wondering whether something had actually happened between King Aerys and Lady Joanna all those years ago.

The small council meeting had been called for one reason and one reason only, Cersei wanted news on whether anyone had managed to capture her brother Tyrion. Of course Varys knew that no one would ever be able to capture Tyrion either here in Westeros or across the Narrow Sea for he had made sure of that. If all had gone according to plan Tyrion would soon be reaching Illyrio's manse in Pentos where he would then leave to go and meet up with Griff and company.

Varys though still had to play his role of Master of Whispers so as not to alert any suspicion, so he continued to feed Cersei and the small council various titbits of misinformation about where Tyrion could potentially be, he's started the meeting by saying that his little birds had told him that someone had reportedly seen the Imp in the Vale with Littlefinger. Of course such a thing would never happen, but it served Varys well to keep Cersei on his side and ensure that doubts were cast about Littlefinger's allegiances.

Eventually the meeting was declared to be over, and they all filed out of the room, but before Varys could go back to his chambers he had one last little thing he had to do. "Prince Oberyn, a minute if you please?"

The Prince had come to take up the Dornish seat on the small council, and for Varys's future plans to be truly effective they needed the unconditional support of Dorne, so what Varys said next was meant to build that support "My Prince I know that you came for justice and as of yet have found it sorely lacking, but I promise you soon you shall have all the justice possible."

As expected the Red Viper snorted and said "How so lord of Whispers, Tywin Lannister is in the Westerlands and not likely to return very soon and with him is Gregor Clegane, Armory Lorch is dead, when and how shall I get justice for Elia and her children?"

Varys thought for a minute before replying "Why with Fire and Blood of course my prince."

**Tolos**

"The armies of Mantarys continue to grow bigger by the day Your Grace." Salia the Wise one of Danaerys many advisors in Tolos said

"Let them grow big, we have the ability to reduce them to cinders, leash your dragons on them your radiance and then no one shall challenge you again." Daario Naharis Captain of the Stormcrows said

Danaerys Targaryen normally remained silent during this debate and allowed her commanders to debate the various issues surrounding the various proposals they put forward but this time she wanted to hear what Ser Barristan her most trusted advisor had to say so she bid him speak and once more he gave her wise counsel "Your Grace, I believe that you should try negotiating with forces outside the walls and see if a peaceful settlement can be reached if not then and only then should you resort to war."

Danaerys nodded, but before she could form a response Missandei her companion burst in and said "Forgive me Your Grace, I know you did not wish to be disturbed, but the scouts you have on the walls told me to tell you that the forces outside the walls have begun mounting attacks on the out regions of the city, taking slaves from the freedmen and women."

Danaerys nodded her thanks to Missandei, before turning to face her war council and simply said "The Mantarys have given us our answer, we give them fire and blood."


	14. Chapter 14

**One Week Later**

**Riverrun**

Catelyn Stark was helping Roslin Tully, Edmure's pregnant wife oversee the accounts for Riverrun, with Winter coming fast they needed to check over the accounts to ensure that they had enough money and supplies to last through the winter as it was likely to be a long one. Helping around Riverrun whilst making Cat feel nostalgic about doing something similar for years at Winterfell also helped to keep her mind occupied and prevent her from spending all hours of the day worrying about her children. Of course no amount of activity could really stop her from worrying. She worried about Edwyn off to defeat the Lannisters and lift the siege at Wayfarer's Rest and whether or not he would come back alive, she worried for Sansa at Highgarden the letter she'd sent had spoken of her pregnancy and Catelyn yearned to be there for her little girl but alas couldn't be because of the damned Lannisters and the war. She worried for Rickon her little baby who had been so young the last time she'd seen him, he probably wouldn't recognise her when she returned home, she worried for Bran and Arya two of her children that she had no inkling of where they could be and whether they were suffering or not. Her heart still felt empty though because of Ned and Robb's deaths, the revelation that Jon Snow was not actually Ned's bastard had only worsened that hole in her heart, she wondered why Ned had never told her, she could understand not telling her in the beginning of their marriage when they were no more than strangers, but as the years went by why not then? Did he still not trust her enough? These doubts often plagued Catelyn during the hours she had nothing to do and no one to talk to.

Of course a whole barrel of worries had been taken of her chest because of Perwyn Frey's marriage to Jeyne Westerling just two days past in Riverrun, the newly married couple had left for the Twins this morning and Catelyn if she was being quite honest with herself was relieved to see her go. Whilst she felt some sort of sympathy for Jeyne she felt that Edwyn had made the right decision in marrying her off to Perwyn, she would live a better live at the Twins than she could in the North that much had been made clear. However, Edwyn's decision to hold Sybell Westerling hostage as well as Genna Lannister did worry Catelyn quite significantly, what if Tywin Lannister marched on Riverrun whilst Edwyn was away, she knew Edmure was a good leader, but a good warrior he was not, Edwyn had proven himself time and time again on the battlefield, but even he might not be able to stop a set Tywin Lannister she could only hope that Edwyn and his men were successful in lifting the siege at Wayfarer's and defeating the Lannisters.

Catelyn's thoughts then turned to the other letter she had received this morning. This one had not born as welcome news as Sansa's had for it had been written by Margaery Tyrell, the bastard king Joffrey's former queen. She wrote that at present her and her grandmothers along with some 500 Tyrell men were currently on their way to Riverrun to propose an alliance with the north and the Riverlands to remove the Lannisters from power. Catelyn could only suspect what terms this alliance would come at, and given that Edwyn still need a wife, she suspected that Margaery Tyrell would put herself forward.

Catelyn was taken out of her reverie by the sound of Alysanne Mormont's voice "My lady, there's someone asking for you at the gate, a big lady says she desperately needs to speak with you."

Catelyn was surprised who could this lady be? She supposed the only way that she was going to find out was if she got up and followed Alysanne to the gate, which is what she did. As she got closer and closer to the gate a sense of anticipation filled her, could this be Brienne? She had sent the woman out with the Kingslayer in order to either exchange the man for her daughters or to find them; with Sansa at Highgarden could Brienne have found Arya?

As she got to the gate she saw that the lady was indeed Brienne and she seemed to be accompanied by a scruffy looking boy with short brown hair and – gods those eyes, those are Ned's eyes- Catelyn's suspicions were confirmed when the scruffy looking boy actually a girl saw Catelyn and then sprinted into her arms whilst shouting "MOTHER!"

Arya Stark had finally found her mother.

**Outside Wayfarer's Rest**

The northern forces had arrived outside of the north eastern gate of Wayfarer's Rest to find it besieged by Lannisters, 4000 of them to be exact. Edwyn himself had decided to take his 4000 northmen plus his uncle Edmure with him as he marched to lift the siege, he'd left the riverlords at Riverrun under the leadership of his great uncle Ser Brynden Tully.

Upon sighting the Lannister forces, they'd decided to split the host into two, one part would be led by Edwyn the other part led by the Greatjon, all they were waiting for now was for Lady Maege to blow her horn. Edwyn casually glanced to his side, his uncle Edmure was on his right and had a very serious expression on his face, Edwyn supposed that Edmure wanted to get his own back on the Lannisters for befouling his wedding, to his left was Storm his constant companion whose ears perked up the minute the horn sounded. Drawing his broadsword from its sheath, Edwyn raised it high in the air and in as loud a voice as he could muster yelled "Men of the North, we have lions to kill!" Then led the charge.

It appeared that they had caught the Lannister soldiers off guard for soon there was a lot of fumbling for equipment and armour, which allowed Edwyn and his men to easily cut down roughly around 400 of the men before the Lannisters truly knew what had hit them. The advantage of surprise was still in their favour it appeared as Edwyn began cutting down men who were half dressed in armour left right and centre, bloodying his sword, he saw out the corner of his eye Storm tearing the throat out of several men, saw Ned Wull and Rod Flint his guards for this battle cutting down men, saw his uncle cutting down men.

Edwyn cut a bloody path through the Lannister soldiers, not particularly stopping to look and see whether or not he had killed someone significant or not, there was only one man who he wanted to fight and that man had only one hand. He found the man at the back of the Lannister camp, with his golden armour on and a smug look on his face, Edwyn knew what he was going to say "Ah if it isn't Edwyn Ironbreaker. Nice to see you again, I do believe the last time we met I had two hands. Should be easier for you now eh, no need to resort to trickery."

Edwyn merely smirked at that "No trickery now or then Kingslayer, admit it your an old done fool, and I am and always will be better than you."

He could tell that had gotten the man's ire, for the Kingslayer didn't bother replying but instead mounted his horse and unsheathed his horse and then charged at Edwyn. Edwyn blocked the rather clumsy parry from the man, before swinging his sword back at him and managing to strike in the gap between his armour and his shoulder drawing blood. Before the Kingslayer could pull away Edwyn had swung his sword again and this time dented the man's golden armour. The Kingslayer however, finally managed to connect with Edwyn's armour striking it with such force that the armour dented and blood began to spill out. Edwyn struck the Kingslayer again this time the force of his swing forcing the man to hunch over winded. Seizing the opportunity, Edwyn slashed at the man drawing blood on the man's upper chest, and then raising his sword he could see the Kingslayer expected death now, but instead Edwyn merely hit the man on his head with the handle of his sword, knocking the man out of conscience and causing him to slump on his horse.

Edwyn turned around to see if any of his companions were nearby, finding Ned Wull close by Edwyn shouted "Ned get some rope and chains, we got us a lion to tie up."

"Yes your grace" Was the reply from Ned Wull

As Edwyn waited for Ned to come back with the rope and chains, his uncle Edmure joined him, "What news of the rest of the battle uncle?"

"The Lannister forces have been defeated most of their men are either dead or fled, victory is ours." Edmure said

"Good. We take the Kingslayer back to Riverrun then, and this time he won't escape." Edwyn replied.

**Stony Sept**

"Remember don't try and seduce him, this boy will probably have his guard up, so just try and get to know him first before trying to woo him." Olenna Tyrell said for the hundredth time to her granddaughter.

Margaery snuck a quick exasperated look with her brother Garlan before replying "Yes grandmother of course grandmother."

It had been a good month since Margaery and her family had left King's Landing, and instead of heading back to Highgarden like they were meant to they were now headed to Riverrun, where the Young Wolf's Twin brother Edwyn Stark was currently at, having won the castle back from the Lannisters. Margaery's grandmother planned to tie House Tyrell closer to House Stark by getting Margaery to marry Edwyn Stark the King in the North, if Margaery had heard her grandmother correctly this was merely going to be a political match so that the Tyrells still ended up on the winning side of the war, because at present it did look like the Lannisters were losing their grip.

Margaery had been curious as to what this Edwyn Stark was actually like, she had heard all about his exploits in battle first from how he had managed to singlehandedly unarm the Kingslayer at the Battle of Whispering Wood, to how he had managed to defeat the Ironborn at various battles to reclaim the north for House Stark. Whilst such exploits painted him as a more than capable warrior, Margaery was more curious as to what he was like as a person. Her first two husbands had differed greatly, Renly had been very, very outgoing whereas Joffrey seemed to just be cruel for the fun of it. She had written to Sansa to ask her what her brother was like and what he liked, Sansa had replied that her brother looked like their father and was often mistaken for being quite solemn but he was just shy and was actually a very lovely person once he was out of his shell. From reading that description Margaery felt that she might have her work cut out for her, especially as it was likely that this man was going to be very suspicious of her and her family and their motives.

She'd just have to use all of her skills to win him over.

**Blue Fork**

The battlefield was complete chaos. Ser Davos Seaworth Hand of the rightful King Stannis Baratheon first of his name, watched in utter disarray as his comrades fell to their deaths around him.

They had been marching south from the Bite where their ships were at anchor, with the intention of crossing the Blue Fork and then heading west to Riverrun, when they had been set upon by Randyll Tarly and his 20,000 reach men. The fighting was quick and bloody in the autumn snows, Davos had been separated from the main body of the army once the attack had begun, the current of the river and the force of the men pushing him further away from his king and his son. He'd managed to kill the three men from the Reach who had tried to attack him, and since the last one no one had come close to where he was.

The sudden silence that filled the air scared Davos what could it mean? Had the battle finally ended? Where was Stannis was he being held a prisoner, where was Devan where was his son?!

He found out the answers to his questions soon enough, he saw Devan running towards him as fast as his legs could carry him holding a sword, that was Stannis's sword, Davos's heart began to sink. "Devan, son what's happened where's King Stannis?"

Devan looked at Davos and then said "He's, He's dead father. Killed by Lord Tarly, his head was hacked of his body. I picked up Lightbringer father, I didn't think the Lannisters should have it. What do we do now father?"

Yes what do we do, Davos thought. Stannis was dead, the fact that Devan held Lightbringer was proof enough of that, where could they go the Baratheon cause was all but lost now. But there was still hope Edwyn Stark was at Riverrun, perhaps he could help them. "We make for Riverrun as before Devan. Quick before the Reacher Lords realise we survived.


	15. Chapter 15

**Three Weeks Later**

**King's Landing**

Cersei Baratheon-Lannister- sat in the chair that her father normally occupied in the small council chamber with a smug look on her face as she waited for the other members of the small council to enter. Apart from Jamie being an idiot and getting himself captured again, everything seemed to be going very well for the Iron Throne, her father had crushed the Ironborn who had been foolish enough to try and hold Casterly Rock, and Mace Tyrell had taken Storm's End and now this latest peace of news from the Riverlands was very, very pleasing.

Cersei looked up as she saw the other members of the small council enter the room, there was old Harys Swyft the Master of Laws, Gyles Rosby the Master of Coin in Littlefinger's absence, Grand Maester Pycelle, Aurane Waters Master of Ships and Lord Varys Master of Whispers.

Cersei smiled at them as they walked in and were seated. "My Lords thank you for joining me on such short notice. You may be wondering why I have called a meeting of the small council today, and I must say that the news that I have received is one that will cause us all joy."

Cersei noted how all the other members of the small council perked up at the mention of the Riverlands, the last thing that they had heard was of her brother's embarrassing defeat to the northerners, this would be much more delightful news to share. "Lord Tarly wrote from the Blue Fork. It would appear that his forces ran into Stannis Baratheon's force, and completed annihilated them in battle. Needless to say we have one less traitor prowling the lands now. Stannis Baratheon is dead."

This news was greeted with several seconds of silence before Aurane Waters raised his wine filled cup and said "A Toast. To Lord Tarly and the killing of the usurper Stannis Baratheon." Which was met by several hear hears of approval, before they all took a deep drink from their goblets.

Of course the good atmosphere just had to be ruined by that old goat Pycelle who said "Whilst these are pleasant tidings your grace, what news from Riverrun? How shall we deal with the traitor Stark?"

Cersei had been expecting this question and had an answer prepared "My father, the King's Hand will be marching on Riverrun in a few days time with orders to put it to the torch, Stark and his northmen are still in the castle and shall die there. The north will go to one of our most trusted allies there. Lord Varys you know what to do."

Lord Varys merely nodded; he had been the one to suggest the idea in the first place, with Roose Bolton dead as well as his bastard, they could ill afford Winterfell falling in to the hands of Sansa Stark and the Tyrells, no there were those still loyal to the Iron Throne in the North.

However, it seemed Pycelle was determined to ruin whatever good feelings Cersei had, as he said "That is all well and good your grace, but what about Stannis Baratheon's wife and daughter? As long as she still lives, traitors will still be present in the realm and will rally behind her name to suit their own causes. Perhaps a marriage between her and King Tommem would be best to quell any future rebellions?"

Cersei shot Pycelle a withering look "My son shall not marry a daughter of a traitor. Besides her mother follows that red demon religion and the red woman that Stannis followed will likely want the Sept burnt we are already having enough trouble as it is with the Sparrows, no you shall write to Janos Slynt and have him deal with Shireen Baratheon and her mother."

With that Cersei dismissed the other members from the small council chamber, and got up herself to walk to her rooms. She would need to think of a suitable bride for Tommem once he came of age, someone she could easily manipulate and who was not from the Reach.

**Casterly Rock**

Tywin Lannister read the letter from Randyll Tarly telling him of the death of Stannis Baratheon, and it was one of those rare occasions where the man actually smiled.

He was quite glad and relieved that Tarly had managed to kill Stannis, for if he had been defeated that would likely have rallied the rest of the kingdoms to Stannis's cause, and then they would most definitely have been in trouble. No Stannis's death was very, very good. Of course with his daughter still alive and at the wall there was always the chance that some fool Florent might try and continue the rebellion, so Tywin would have to find somebody for the girl to marry that would quell any such notions, perhaps a Lannister cousin or maybe a son from the Westerlands, but not Tommem no, Tommem would be required to marry Margaery Tyrell in order to ensure the loyalty of the Reach no matter what Cersei said.

He looked at the other letter that was on his table, and scowled Jamie had managed to get himself captured yet again by the northerners. He knew that Jamie losing his sword hand would make him slightly less capable of a fighter but he didn't think that, that would allow him to be captured so easily. The Stark boy now was the only major threat to securing peace and stability for Tommem's rule, Tywin had to find some way to either get the boy to bend the knee or kill him. The only problem was that he seemed to have earnt the loyalty of his men as well as that of the Riverlords just as easily as his brother the Young Wolf had. So it was likely that the only thing that would remove him from the field would be his death.

Getting up from his chair, he walked outside his room and turned to the guard outside and said "Find Gregor Clegane, tell him to marshal the troops we march for Riverrun at first light tomorrow."

**Riverrun**

Edwyn sighed as he looked at the letter that had come from Harrenhal this morning. The letter said that Stannis Baratheon had been slain at the Battle of Blue Fork against Randyll Tarly's forces, thus confirming the tale that his onion knight Ser Davos Seaworth had told him upon entering Riverrun. This made things slightly more difficult for Edwyn, he had been intending on bending the knee to Stannis and adding his strength to Stannis's to help him win the Iron Throne, but now with his death and his daughter being up at the Wall, there was no way that Edwyn could convince his men to fight in the south or even stay in the south any longer, and that meant marching home. Of course Edwyn knew that it wouldn't be as easy as that first they'd have to defeat Tywin Lannister's host whenever the man decided to attack Riverrun and then march through wades of snow that had begun to settle on the ground with winter fast approaching.

Edwyn sighed again, since coming back with the Kingslayer as a captive, the only good thing to have happened was that he had returned to Riverrun to find that his sister Arya had been found and was waiting for him along with his mother. Edwyn smiled at the memory of their reunion, Arya had all but jumped into his arms the moment she saw him, it had been three years since he'd last seen her but she was still small, and of course Edwyn had hugged her and held her to him as if he didn't want to ever let her go. They'd gone to Edmure's Solar that day to discuss where Arya had been, it turned out that after their father's arrest she had escaped with a group of Night's Watch recruits, but after they had been attacked by Lannister soldiers she and a few of her friends had fled and had later been at Harrenhal when both Tywin Lannister and Roose Bolton had occupied it, before Arya and her friends had once again escaped and then been captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners only for her to be taken captive by the Hound and they'd been outside the Twins as the Red Wedding had occurred. Both Arya and their mother had had tears in their eyes by that point and Edwyn himself had had to bite back a sob, to think that Arya had been so close all those times. Arya then said that she had left the Hound wounded and dying near the Twins and had roamed around the countryside of the Riverlands, only to be found by Lady Brienne near High Heart. Edwyn was deeply grateful towards Lady Brienne for finding his sister and bringing her back to him and his mother, but she'd only said that she was fulfilling her oath to Edwyn's mother, which she had promptly renewed and was now Edwyn's mother and sister' sworn knight and protector.

Edwyn was taken out of his reverie by a knock on the door and when he asked the person to come in he found himself looking at Ned Wull's anxious face "Lady Margaery to see you your grace."

Edwyn grimaced. Margaery Tyrell, her grandmother and brother Garlan had arrived at Riverrun just two days ago, wishing to forge an alliance between the Reach and the North. Needless to say Edwyn was highly suspicious of what their true motives could be, given the fact that Margaery had been married to that bastard of a king Joffrey and that her father was currently laying siege to Storm's End in the name of the bastard king Tommem. Edwyn supposed he would have to talk to her sooner or later so he asked Ned to let her in, and was relieved to see that it was just her who entered his room not her grandmother or brother was with her.

"Lady Margaery, what can I do for you?" Edwyn enquired.

"Your grace, I was hoping to discuss the reason for my visit." Margaery replied.

Edwyn had to bite back a snort at least she was honest. "Well then please sit down and we can talk."

As she sat down Edwyn couldn't help assessing her, she was quite beautiful what with her brown hair and hazel eyes and lush figure, and she was every man's fantasy. But of course underneath her pretty exterior was a calculating woman that much he was certain of, he would have to tread carefully here.

"Your Grace, you know that I have come here with my grandmother and brother to propose an alliance between the Reach and the North. And I know that whilst you might be reluctant to consent to such an alliance if you would allow me to explain why such an alliance would be beneficial to you, that would be most helpful." Margaery said.

Edwyn could simply nod and gestured for her to continue. "Whilst it is true that I was wed to Joffrey Baratheon, the marriage was not consummated and I remain a maiden. Further, if you agree to this alliance you would have the whole strength of the Reach behind you which would be most helpful for you in your fight against Lord Tywin and whatever threats face you from the wall. Also whilst it is true that my father is currently laying siege to Storm's End for the boy king, if you were to agree to this alliance he would stop immediately and allow Lady Shireen and her mother to return their seat."

Edwyn remained silent for a moment as he took in all of what Margaery said, it did seem reasonable, though he suspected that there was something else to her being here he just couldn't place his finger on what that could be. "If I were to agree to this alliance Lady Margaery, what would be in it for you and the Reach? What concessions would I have to make?"

At this he saw the blush rising up her cheeks and could see the hesitancy in her eyes when she replied "A marriage."

"A marriage my lady? Between who, your brother Willas is already married to my sister, whom else could you possibly wish from your family to marry to mine?" Edwyn replied.

"You, the terms of the alliance would be sealed by your marriage to me, your grace." Margaery said.

**The Water Gardens, Dorne**

Arianne Martell, heir to Sunspear made her way to where her father sat overlooking the children playing in the pools that gave the Water Gardens its name, she had been summoned from Sunspear by her father to discuss urgent matters, and so had made her way to the Water Gardens to see what her father could possibly want. With her uncle Oberyn still in King's Landing, Arianne did wonder what it was that her father could want.

As she walked into the room where her father sat she greeted him "Father, you summoned and so I have come."

Her father turned to face her grimacing as he moved the pain in his legs quite severe, "Sit Arianne. There are things we need to discuss."

So Arianne sat and waited for her father to begin speaking. "I remember when you were a child playing in those pools with Oberyn's children and the others, I remember when Quentyn played in those pools Trystane as well, it seems time is catching up with me. But alas that is not why I called you here today. I have received word from your uncle in the capital, he is coming home."

Arianne was shocked "Uncle Oberyn's coming home? But I thought he was not to come back until justice had been found for Aunt Elia and her children?"

Her father merely chuckled in response "Aye justice was why he was sent, but justice is still a foreign concept in the capital it would seem. No Tywin Lannister and Gregor Clegane are in the Westerlands and are not likely to be served justice anytime soon. No Oberyn is coming home, but not empty handed."

Arianne was intrigued "If he is not coming home with the mountain's head, then what is he coming home with father?"

Her father replied "A promise."

Arianne was confused "A promise father?"

"Yes, a promise of Fire and Blood."


	16. Chapter 16

**Riverrun**

"I think you should accept Lady Margaery's offer your grace." Said Edwyn's uncle Edmure.

Since he had told his mother, uncle and the assorted northern and riverlord bannermen about Margaery Tyrell's offer, there had been a very heated discussion with everyone trying to get their two cents in.

His uncle's announcement was met with some more shouts of opinion, he heard the Greatjon say "Aye marry the wench your grace, and use her father's armies to crush the Lannisters once and for all."

He thought he heard Cley Cerwyn say "Your Grace don't accept the Tyrell's offer, they are still fighting for the Lannisters, for all we know this could be some trap offered by the Lannisters themselves meant to ensnare you."

Lord Blackwood said "Aye I agree with Cerwyn, those Tyrells are very suspicious, why are they suddenly offering their daughter for you to marry, there has to be a catch."

On and on it went, the discussion or debate rather had been raging on for hours and hours, it was not very, very late in the night, Edwyn had promised to give Lady Margaery his answer by tomorrow morning, at present it seemed as if that was asking for a bit much. Personally Edwyn thought that Margaery Tyrell was a very lovely looking girl and he found himself interested in her, but he was also very wary they had trusted the Freys and that hadn't ended well, but this was even more precarious the Reach was still sworn to the Iron Throne there was no guessing what sort of plots they were actually hatching.

Edwyn was relieved when he heard his mother begin to speak "Your Grace I believe you should accept the Tyrell's offer."

A stunned silence greeted his mother's pronouncement. Edwyn himself was deeply surprised he had been expecting his mother of all people to furiously object to agreeing with the alliance. Edwyn had to ask "Why do you suggest this mother?"

His mother smiled a small smile at him before saying "Because your grace, having the armies of the Reach at your disposal will make it easier for you to do deal with the Lannister forces thus making it easier to return home, and deal with whatever it is that is threatening the wall. But you should tell Lady Margaery that you shall only consent to the alliance if the Tyrells agree to release Robett Glover and Harrion Karstark, and Randyll Tarly marches his men back to their homes and leaves the Riverrun. Ultimately the decision is up to you your grace."

Edwyn nodded his thanks to his mother, and then dismissed everyone from the Great Hall that they had used for the meeting, but asked his mother to wait behind. Turning to her he said "Do you truly think I should agree to Margaery's terms mother?"

His mother nodded and said "I do Ed, the Tyrells may be many things, but it was them that managed to save Sansa and get her away from the Lannisters. We owe them our thanks for that act alone. Besides Margaery is not a bad looking girl now is she?"

Edwyn blushed something fierce at his mother's last sentence and simply nodded.

"Very well then I shall tell her our terms and accept." And with that Edwyn escorted his mother to her room and then headed back to his own room for the night.

**Highgarden**

"This is just like grandmother. Pledge allegiance to one king only to go and try and get into the good books of another." Willas fumed. They had just learnt thanks to a raven from Garlan about Olenna Tyrell's latest scheme, to marry Margaery off to Sansa's elder brother Edwyn.

"Do you think Ed should accept Willas? Does your grandmother have any ulterior motive?" Sansa asked.

"I don't think she has any ulterior motive for once, which is a scary thing. But yes I think your brother should accept the offer. He'd be a fool not to the armies of the Reach could help to easily defeat whatever Lannister strength is left." Willas replied.

"But why does your grandmother want Margaery to marry Ed? I thought both she and your father wanted Margaery to be the Queen?" Sansa asked confused.

"Oh I'm sure she still wants Margaery to be queen, but I think it has more to do with the fact that the Lannisters are being severly hit by enemies right now even with Stannis Baratheon dead. And I think my grandmother still wants to ensure that the family ends up on the winning side at the end of it all. I thoroughly doubt my father even knows Margaery isn't even in the Reach, he's too busy trying to break Storm's End and besides he still thinks the Lannisters are foolish enough to agree to let Tommem marry Margaery." Willas replied.

"Ah, so you think Lady Olenna simply wishes to strengthen the Reach's ties with royalty then? Nothing at all to do with the fact that she'll probably expect my brother and mother to be so grateful that she managed to get me away from King's Landing?" Sansa replied bitterly

Willas smiled at her, took her hand in his and said "Sansa love, I'm sure your mother and brother are relieved that you are okay, but they will have to take that into consideration but also they do have to think about both the North and the Riverlands. And at present we are the only ones who have a big enough army to defeat the Lannisters and not suffer major losses."

Sansa smiled back at Willas and said "Ok then love, I just wish I could see them before they go back to Winterfell and tell them how much I love them. I wish they could be here for when our child comes."

"Oh I'm sure they know how much you love them, I certainly know how much you love me my little wolf." Willas said

Sansa blushing fiercely hit Willas on the arm playfully. Neither of them knew just how much their lives would be changed within a few months.

**Mantarys**

Mantarys burned. Danaerys Targaryen sat on Drogon her dragon and watched with awed fascination as she saw the flames from Drogon and Viserion engulf and destroy the ancient city, that had laid siege to her in Tolos.

She had used Drogon to burn the forces that were camped outside of Tolos to the ash, and then had set her sight on Mantarys to teach them a lesson in messing with the dragon.

Fire and Blood were ruling the day today, no blood had been shed on her side, all of her men and commanders were camped a few miles away on the hills surrounding Mantarys. Danaerys was determined to make sure that once she ordered Drogon and Viserion to stop the city would be nothing more than ash and ruin. The she would set her sights on Volantis and then to Westeros and home.

As she sat on Drogon watching her child do his work, she found her thoughts turning to her other child Rhaegal had all but vanished from her, she had not seen him since they had taken Tolos, and it was beginning to worry her, not child should be without its mother, especially Rhaegal who was one of the more vicious and ferocious of her three dragons.

Of course she knew that once the demonstration had finished Ser Barristan would look at her differently, they all would she knew that. But if she thought about it long and hard, Danaerys Stormborn did not care. She had spent far too much time being soft and trying to befriend the slavers and win allies, all that had got her was more bloodshed then she cared to remember. No this time she would send a sign to all those who thought of crossing her, she maybe a woman, but she was also blood of the dragon.

No one fought the dragon, and now she was teaching this lesson to Mantarys and if the Triarchs of Volantis did not listen to her, she would teach them the same lesson. Then she would head to Westeros and teach the Usurper's dogs the same lesson and reclaim what was stolen from her family.

**Selhorys**

Griff disliked the imp almost as much as he hated the Spider and that was no mean feat. The Imp had joined their company a few weeks ago when they had been docked in the Little Rhoyne and the man had managed to get himself in with Haldon and Rolly, charming them with his words and flattery that easily gave away who and what he was : A Lannister, true a kingslaying one but still a Lannister and Griff hated him with everything he had.

It did not help that the Imp seemed determined to figure out who they all were and what their purpose was. Not for the first time Griff wondered why the Spider had thought to send a Lannister of all people to join and help them. Not for the first time he cursed himself and Robert Baratheon and that thriced damned Stark girl. If she had not been such a slut, then Rhaegar would never have strayed from Elia, though truth be told Griff thought for the first time that if Aerys had had the sense to marry Rhaegar to anyone but Elia Martell, hells even Cersei Lannister would have been better than Elia Martell, then Rhaegar most definitely would never have strayed and the whole thriced damned rebellion would never have happened. And Griff and Septa Lemore and Young Griff would all be in Westeros doing what they were meant to be doing and not stuck in a boat half way across the world with Tyrion Lannister. But of course Aerys had not seen sense and had married Rhaegar off to Elia, and Rhaegar had strayed and had eloped with the Stark girl, and Robert's Rebellion had happened and Griff when he had been known as Jon Connington had failed to stop it at the Battle of the Bells.

Griff's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the Imp say "Are you always so grim old man? Or is it just the weather that's got you down?"

Sighing Griff replied "Neither, I am just tired of listening to your prattle about useless nonsense. Don't you have something better to do? Why are you here now?"

The Imp had the audacity to smirk "Well if you're so tired of listening to me speak then I guess you won't want me to read you this letter that was given to me today then?"

Griff's heart stopped for a moment, letter what letter? They had only been docked in Selhorys for a few hours and he could have sworn the Imp had not left the boat how could he have gotten a letter? Who was it from?

"Ah I see that's got your interest. Would you like to read it Griff? Or should I say Lord Connington?" The Imp smirked.

Griff's face went pale at that, how had the Imp found out who they were? "Oh you think I didn't realise who you were? How stupid do I look, I'm an Imp not a fool. Griff eh, you're lucky the Spider's in on this little plot of yours, for that name wouldn't have fooled him at all."

Griff's face paled even further. "What no snidey remark to make? No insults? What's the matter Lord Connington cat got your tongue? Or should I say Lion? I know who Young Griff is as well my lord, and I must say fine job you've done raising the lad, he seems the perfect prince and king, but of course that is what he's been raised for his whole life. Pray tell me when you were going to inform him that this aunt of his, that I suppose you've been expecting him to marry for the past few years is actually in Mantarys as we speak burning it to the ground, and is missing one of her three dragons? Still nothing to say? Well I suppose you had best read that letter then."

With that the Imp handed him the letter than sauntered off to somewhere else on the boat. Dreading what he was going to find when he read the letter, Griff opened it up and began to read:

**Griff,**

**I hope this letter finds you well. We are in Volon Therys waiting for you with the company. Word on the vine is that our King's queen has lost the plot, burnt Mantarys to the ground.**

**Come quickly **

**Flowers.**

As Griff finished reading he cursed inwardly, things had just gotten so much more complicated.


	17. Chapter 17

**Riverrun**

Edwyn Stark, King in the North and the Trident sat in chair next to his uncle Edmure in the great hall of Riverrun waiting for the Tyrell party to enter the hall. After reaching a decision with regards to the Tyrells offer Edwyn had decided that it would be best to simply get it all sorted and done with, so that they could begin the march north. He looked around the hall and saw that the majority of his bannermen seemed rather happy, he supposed that the thought of returning home at last was rather pleasing for them, though if the raven he had received from the Wall was any indication they would all soon be required to march to war again.

These thoughts were pushed from his mind however, when the doors to the great hall opened and the herald announced Lady Margaery, her grandmother Lady Olenna and her brother Ser Garlan and his wife Lady Leonnette.

As they came to stand before him Edwyn took some time to appraise them, Ser Garlan was big and muscular he could see the reason for why he was such a famed warrior quite evidently and he still had the Tyrell good looks, something that might have caused Edwyn to be jealous had Robb still been alive, for Robb was always the good looking twin the one all the girls wanted, Edwyn was just the spare the awkward second son set to inherit nothing until that blasted wedding had changed everything.

Shake his head at his wandering thoughts, Edwyn cleared his throat and then spoke "My Lord and Ladies, I thank you for your patience as I considered your offer. I have reached my decision. I shall consent to the alliance and your terms, but first I must present my own terms to you off to which I hope you will be agreeable."

Edwyn noted how all four people in the Tyrell party visibly relaxed after he had announced his consent, once again he did find it passing odd that they were proposing an alliance with him and not trying to pawn Margaery off onto the Lannisters. Then again if there was one thing that Edwyn had learnt from this war, it was that Southron people were far too bloody complicated for him to figure out, no he much preferred the north, where people were honest.

Edwyn continued speaking "If you can get Lord Tarly to give up the prisoners that he currently holds in Harrenhal and bring them here and if you can get your father to give his oath that Lady Selyse and Lady Shireen will be allowed to return to Storm's End unmolested, then this alliance will be fair in my view. Are these terms agreeable?"

Edwyn waited for a response and as he looked at the Tyrells he noticed how it was mainly Lady Margaery and Lady Olenna who were doing the talking it appeared Ser Garlan and his wife had nothing of note to contribute. After a heated discussion Lady Margaery looked up toward Edwyn and said "We find these terms agreeable your grace, my brother shall write to Lord Tarly and our Lord Father today. If I may be so bold when shall the wedding be?"

Edwyn nodded and then said "Tonight." He did have to deal with Tywin Bloody Lannister after all.

**Somewhere on the Summer Sea**

King Euron, the ninth of his name sat his cabin onboard the Silence and brooded. Word had reached him of the battle of the rock which had been fought between the remaining Ironborn forces that he had left behind under the command of Ser Harras Harlaw and those forces led by Tywin Lannister.

His man Urrigon had written that the Lannister men had burnt the Ironborn fleet that had been docked at Lannisport before setting themselves on the forces of men led by Ser Harras. The man himself had been killed by the Mountain that Rides Ser Gregor Clegane. Whilst Euron did not exactly mourn the passing of Harras Harlaw, he did think it a waste of life. Harlaw had been a mighty fine fighter and sailor and his valyrian steel sword Nightfall had been a lovely weapon to look at, more than likely the Lion had his claws on it now.

But no Euron could not dwell too much on events happening on the green lands, for he had his eyes on a much bigger prize. The ultimate prize, he had taken twelve of the Ironborn's best ships with him from Lannisport as well as the thirty ships that they had captured on their way from the Westerlands, and he was heading to Volantis where rumour had it the dragon queen Danaerys Targaryen was headed. Euron intended to make Danaerys his wife and through her claim the Iron Throne and restore the Ironborn to the glory they had not held since the days of King Harren the Black. Many had quaffed when he had first made his intentions clear at the King's moot, but when he had produced his dragon horn acquired from the ruins of Valryia and told them all of how this horn would give him the power over Danaerys Targaryens dragons and the girl herself, they had all fallen at his feet.

He had further proven himself with the successful invasion of the Westerlands and the conquering and pillaging of some of their wealthiest castles had added much gold to his coffers as well as many men, women and children to take on board his ships as slaves.

Soon they would land in Volantis and destroy the Triarchs there and give the city to Danaerys and then Euron would marry the girl and use his horn to conquer her dragons and then the ultimate prize would be his.

**King's Landing**

Lord Varys sat in his chambers in the Red Keep and read over the various reports that his little birds had left on his table throughout the day. Things had certainly become much more interesting in the capital since news of Stannis Baratheon's death had reached Cersei Lannister's ears. She seemed quite convinced that now with Stannis dead the rest of the kingdoms would just roll over and play ball.

Of course that was a naive assumption of a paranoid and power hungry woman, who didn't really seem to care for her son's happiness. Poor Tommem Varys thought, the boy was a sweet child which was surprising if it was taken into consideration who his actual parents were. He didn't stand a chance with Cersei ruling for him and making one hash of it. First she had been foolish enough to completely rebuff Mace Tyrell and his offer of Margaery Tyrell's hand for Tommem something that would have strengthened the Lannister-Tyrell alliance which would have made life so much more difficult for Varys. As it was, Cersei in her infinite foolery had outright rejected the Tyrells, and had sent Mace Tyrell off to capture Storm's End. Varys knew of course that the Tyrells under Olenna Tyrell's direction were now seeking an alliance with the North through marrying Margaery to Edwyn Stark, thus renewing an old promise that Varys knew the Queen of Thorns had made to Edwyn Stark's grandfather. If Varys's sources in Riverrun were to be believed the alliance was almost certainly sealed. It appeared that Stark's mother had counselled him in favour of accepting it, which would mean that the boy would have the strength of the Reach behind him and Mace Tyrell's daughter would be Queen, albeit a Queen of Winter. If all went accordingly the Stark forces would smash the host that Tywin Lannister was marching up the Golden Tooth- preferably killing Tywin Lannister- and then the way would be clear for Aegon and Danaerys to come and conquer Westeros.

Thinking about Danaerys made Varys slightly worry. According to his sources she had become quite the conqueror and had put both Astapor and Yunkai to the sword and had been given Meeren by the slaves, and had laid waste to Tolos and Mantarys. That was not what worried Varys though. No it was more that his sources reported that she was beginning to show the same signs of madness that her brother Viserys and her father Aerys had shown. This worried Varys as he was concerned about how she would react to meeting Aegon for the first time and whether she would truly accept him as her nephew or not. Furthermore with the Crow's Eye sailing to Volantis to meet her Varys would need to play his hand carefully in the next few months, something would have to be done about the Crow's Eye.

**Mantarys**

Barristan Selmy watched uncomfortably as yet another person was roasted in Drogon's flame. Since they had taken the city, Danaerys had been almost insatiable in her bloodlust, and had almost completely wiped out the entire adult population of Mantarys, the only thing that Barristan considered worth praising her for was the fact that she had not as yet ordered the deaths of women and children, for he didn't think he would be able to keep his silence if that was what happened.

He did not know what had happened to the girl whom he had first met in Astapor , somewhere along the way her conquests and the betrayal of Ser Jorah had warped her mind and had turned her into something that Barristan recognised as her father. He had at first been watching for signs of her family's traditional madness, but it seemed that she had not been affected and that the coin had come up on the side of greatness. Now though he was not so sure. Whilst she could still be kind and compassionate to those she knew from her Khalasar and to Missandei, to most others Barristan included she was often harsh and judgemental, and the amount of time she spent with the sellsword Daario Naharis was very, very worrying for Barristan, for he feared the sellsword was manipulating his queen and once again he felt that there was nothing he could do to prevent another of the monarchs he had sworn to protect spiral into madness.

They were to head to Volantis within the next few days, and Barristan distinctly remembered Danaerys saying that if they would not wield they too would taste the wrath of the dragon, a sentiment that echoed rather like something her father had once said once news of Jon Connington's failure at the Battle of the Bells had reached the capital, and that had ended with Prince Rhaegar's rubies scattered in the Trident and Robert Baratheon crowned king as he ascended to the throne over the dead bodies of Elia Martell, Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys. No Barristan could not let his queen spiral into the same madness he would die before he let her ruin herself and her chances of reclaiming her throne. And if he had to kill Daario Naharis and risk his queen's wrath then he would do so, for he had failed his vows one too many time, and he was sick of standing silent.

**Riverrun Dungeons**

Jamie Lannister sat in squalor inside his cell in Riverrun, for the second time during the war. He was not too bothered about his imprisonment this time around, the first time his pride had been wounded, how he had been bested by a boy so green that he pissed grassed in the Whispering Wood was beyond him. Then he had lost his hand and humility had come crashing down on him like an ocean, the Stark boy was right he was an old done fool, the stark boy was leagues better than him now with his one hand was likely better than him when he had fought him with two, and was most certainly better than Loras Tyrell.

Jamie had a lot of time to think in his cell, it was not like he was going to be going anywhere anytime soon. His sister and father most likely thought him worthless now and not worth rescuing he knew his father would at least try to rescue him simply because not doing so would shame the family name, and that was something that Tywin Lannister could never allow. Cersei he was not so sure of, before he had lost his hand maybe, but something had changed between them, maybe he was different but he was sure there was something different about her as well.

She no longer seemed as glorious as she had before this whole war had started, no now she seemed old and weary, they were all old and weary. Jamie Lannister laughed at that, it seemed he was gaining some perspective after all.


	18. Chapter 18

**Three Weeks Later**

**King's Landing**

"My little birds have informed me that Edwyn Stark had wed Margaery Tyrell." Varys said though he had known about the wedding for three weeks he had been keeping himself privy to that information to further his own ends. As expected Cersei Lannister's reaction a sight to behold.

"Those traitors!" The Queen Regent fumed "So just because I refused to allow his daughter marry Tommem, the oaf of a man has married his daughter to that Stark brat. Absolutely unacceptable!"

Varys had to hold back a titter as he replied "Your grace, if I may be so bold. I do not think Lord Tyrell is even aware of his daughter's latest marriage stuck as he is in the Stormlands trying to capture Storm's End for King Tommem. No this reeks of Olenna Tyrell." To right it does, thought Varys after all he had cooked up the plot with the Queen of Thorns when the Tyrells had still been in King's Landing.

Cersei was fuming "Well whether he knows of his daughter and mother's treachery or not, I want Mace Tyrell brought back to King's Landing to answer for this treason!"

Varys glanced across the table to where Maester Pycelle was sitting, the man had been dosing of and had startled awake after Cersei's latest rant. Varys knew Pycelle was an old man whose days were numbered, and with Littlefinger being non responsive in the Vale, Varys only had to wait for Lord Tywin's death before his plans could come into motion fully.

"Your grace would it not be better to try and use Lady Margaery's marriage to the Stark boy to try and get the boy to bend the knee to Tommem? Surely the boy must know that his sister his married to Lord Tyrell's heir and that say should anything happen to his sister that would put him under extreme duress." Qyburn the man who had accompanied the Kingslayer said.

Varys deeply disliked Qyburn the man was sly as a fox, but there was something else about him that Varys didn't like he reeked of magic and all those things Varys had thought to leave behind in Essos.

What was deeply surprising for Varys though was that it appeared that Cersei actually thought Qyburn's suggestions had some merit as shown by the fact that she said "Yes, yes it should, shouldn't it? Very well Maester Pycelle if you can stay awake for long enough send a raven to Lord Tarly and instruct him to march on Riverrun and lay siege to it. Also send a raven to my uncle Lord Kevan, if he is still at Darry tell him to take what men he can find and help Lord Tarly lay siege to Riverrun."

And with that Cersei Lannister dismissed the small council. Varys knew that whatever orders she sent to Lord Tarly were likely to be ignored by the man, Lord Tarly held an unbreakable loyalty to Lord Tyrell as his liege lord and now with Margaery Tyrell married to Edwyn Stark, was more likely to aid the Stark boy than fight him, Kevan Lannister was being sent on a fool's errand. Varys was glad of that Cersei's paranoia had only increased since they had received word of the kingslayer's capture and it seemed as if she constantly expected her brother Lord Tyrion to spring out of nowhere and try to kill her.

Varys was glad that Princess Myrcella was in Dorne and away from her mother's growing instability; no child should have to watch their parent descend into madness, no matter who they were.

As Varys entered his chambers he saw a letter lying on his bed, going to the bed and picking up the letter and reading it Varys could only chuckle, it seemed the Viper had caught the lion in its fangs. Things were most definitely progressing just how he wanted them to.

**The Vale**

Petyr Baelish looked over the accounts for the Eyrie and sighed. It appeared that he still had a lot of work to do. He had been married to Lysa Arryn for a few months now, and whilst she was with child, Petyr still despaired about how little he actually enjoyed the woman's company. It seemed that her time in the capital had completely unhinged her and she seemed completely possessive of the two things she could call her own, her son and him. It was really beginning to grate on his nerves.

He truly wished he had had the excuse to push her out of the moon door, but of course his plot to bring Sansa to the Vale had failed, he should have known that it would fail the minute the Tyrell girl began speaking to her, and Sansa stopped coming to the godswood to meet with Ser Dontos.

Of course he had been very careful to keep his part in Joffrey's death a secret, but somehow the Spider had managed to get Cersei's ire drawn to him, and he had been asked some rather uncomfortable questions in a letter from the capital, and it had taken all of his charm and penmanship to assure the Queen that no he didn't have anything to do with the Imp's escape nor Joffrey's death.

Oh if only Sansa hadn't been married to Willas Tyrell she would have been his, the daughter he and Cat should have had. Well he had had enough of dreaming it was time to act, time to find the one person who could make his dream a reality. Petyr Baelish began to prepare for his leaving of the Vale that day; he had a dragon to find.

**Volantis**

The Silence docked into port on Volantis's shores and its crew began to come off the ship. Amongst them was Euron Greyjoy ninth of his name King of the Iron Isles, and walking down the plank onto the shore Euron breathed in the humid air of Volantis and smiled, this was going to be easy.

As he walked down the peer, he signalled for his men to begin the cull of the guards there and as he continued walking he heard the guards of the peer screaming as they died and paid the Iron Price. Euron continued walking down the peer, all the while the sound of dying guardsmen echoing in the air. Euron continued to walk down the peer humming a tune under his breath and nodding to the various people he passed all of whom quickly ducked their heads and tried to avoid catching his eye, even in this part of the world the legend of the Crow's Eye was feared.

He continued walking down past the peer and now found himself on one of the many streets of Volantis, waiting for his men to join him Euron looked up and down the street making sure no one else was there, it would not do for one of the Triarchs to see him before he had the chance to kill a few more men. As soon as his men joined him, Euron drew his axe from his back and bellowed a war cry, and soon found himself cutting his way through Volanteene soldiers, those foolish enough to come close enough to him were cut down instantly, and those he didn't kill were soon put out of their misery by Euron's soldiers.

Soon Euron and his men had cut a bloody path through Volantis and were facing the black wall, where only those of Old Valryia in their blood could live, signalling to his archers, Euron began to walk toward the wall and as he saw the guards on the outpost fall to their deaths, he gave the dragon horn to one of the captives they had picked up in the Westerlands "Blow it." He said, and the boy blew the horn, and as his lips cracked and bled and as the life fell from his body, Euron Crow's Eye looked on as the Black Wall of Volantis fell.

Smirking he turned to his men and said "Burn the houses, kill any you see. If you find anything of note keep it, you find another horn bring it straight to me. Burn everything else."

And with that the Ironborn began their raping and pillaging of Volantis proper.

**The Red Fork**

Edwyn Stark cut through yet another bastard wearing the crimson red of the Lannisters, and sighed. They'd been fighting for three days now, ever since word had reached Riverrun of Tywin Lannister being camped close by, everyone had been extremely nervous, but when it turned out that Edwyn with the combined northern and riverland forces plus the 500 men the Tyrells had brought with them had more men then Tywin Lannister did, it seemed victory was assured.

Edwyn took advantage in the brief lull in the fighting to think back to his marriage day, he'd been nervous not as nervous as his first wedding but still nervous, the vows themselves had been said in the godswood in Riverrun, and then there had been a rather subdued feast and the bedding afterward had been rather tame as well. But no he found that he liked Margaery well enough, she was good fun to talk to and he found her stimulating, it also helped he supposed that she got on well with his mother and even Arya seemed to take a shine to her. The promise of returning back to Winterfell was what kept Edwyn going though if he was being truly honest.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a big figure running toward him with their sword raised, Edwyn managed to avoid their swing, and then managed to quickly jab his sword into the man's chest before pulling back and then raising his sword to block the man's swing. Before managing rather luckily he supposed plunging his sword straight into the man's chest before pulling his sword out again and watched as the man wearing the sigil of House Crakehall on his armour fell to the ground dead.

Edwyn's respite however was brief, another bloody Crakehall bastard came running at him swinging his sword like a mad man, it was all mad thrusts and jabs from this Crakehall and it took all Edwyn had in him to continue to raise his sword to block the man's swings, even though he could fell his arms jarring each time steel met steel. Eventually the man managed to get a nick on his armour, and Edwyn could feel blood coming out of his arm, in retaliation Edwyn sent a series of swings at the man connecting a few times to draw a lot of blood, before they were back to swinging and blocking each other again. Then Edwyn spotted a gap in the man's armour between his chest and shoulder, managing to knock the man's sword away from him just quick enough to plunge his sword into the gap before pulling out, Edwyn moved away from the man as he began to bleed to his death.

Edwyn then came across a man he recognised to be Ser Rolph Spice from his likeness to Sybell Westerling, and Edwyn felt an old anger stir inside of him. This man plotted with the Lannisters to have Robb killed, Edwyn would make sure the man suffered for that. He charged at Spicer and managed to catch the man by surprise, plunging his sword into the man's armour before pulling out, Spicer was still in shock from the sudden attack and didn't have enough time to try and defend himself as Edwyn plunged his sword into the older man again and again until his sword was completely covered in blood and Spicer was bleeding profusely. The older man struggled to raise his sword and Edwyn ruthlessly plunged his sword into the older man's chest this time going straight for where the man's heart would be and when he pulled his sword out the man's chest spurted blood out covering Edwyn's armour in it.

Edwyn moved on from Spicer and followed Storm who had appeared to have picked up on someone's scent, following Storm led to Edwyn facing Tywin Lannister's guards, and a sense of anticipation filled him if he could kill the guards he would have a chance to avenge Robb and father by killing the man behind the Lannister's power. Charing forward he managed to kill one of the guards whilst Storm tore out the throat of the other, and before long Edwyn found himself face to face with the mighty Tywin Lannister.

"Lord Tywin, it seems that we meet at last. I must say you have proven to be a very interesting enemy. But your son is a piss poor excuse for a knight and you my Lord have just signed your death warrant."

"You seem so sure of yourself Stark. I may be old but I can still beat you in a fight."

"Oh well let's test the truth of those words shall we?"

Their banter at an end, the two men began circling each other on their horses as Storm watched on growling all the while. Edwyn was the first to break the circling bringing his horse closer to Tywin's and swinging at him and connecting and hitting the exposed flesh of the older man's leg. Tywin managed to do one better and struck Edwyn high on his chest. The they were clashing steel against one another, neither willing to give ground to the other. Before breaking apart and resuming the dance once more steel on steel and it was as if time had come to a standstill for Edwyn, all he heard was the sound of steel on steel and occasionally the sound of steel denting armour and the feeling of pain as another wound opened up on his body.

Edwyn noted that Tywin seemed to be wielding a dark valyrian steel blade; he wondered where the man had gotten it from, before remembering that the Ironborn had invaded the Westerlands so it was likely the old lion got it from defeating one of those Ironborn bastards. Edwyn couldn't stop to dwell on his thoughts for much longer though for he was soon back in a trance like state as steel clashed with steel, and wounds were opened both fresh and old on both men's bodies but neither man seemed willing to accept defeat and die.

Eventually Edwyn felt as if he was going to pass out from the amount of pain he was in as well as the amount of blood he had lost, and it looked to him as if the mighty Tywin Lannister was experiencing the same problems. Using what little remained of his strength Edwyn managed to raise his sword with enough force to knock Tywin's sword out of his hand and swing back up and he felt his sword connect with skin, but he wasn't too sure how that could be, but all doubts were soon wiped from his mind as Edwyn Stark slumped on his horse and saw black.


	19. Chapter 19

**Three Weeks Later**

**King's Landing**

"Are you sure that the letter from Lord Tarly said what it said?" Cersei Lannister asked trying to keep the fear from her voice.

"Yes your grace, Lord Tarly's letter states quite clearly that Lord Lannister's head now adorns a spike on Riverrun's gates." Grand Maester Pycelle replied.

Cersei was silent for a moment; the letter had arrived this morning from Lord Tarly bearing dark words on dark wings. Her father, the great and mighty Tywin Lannister had taken 2000 men with him to attack the Stark host and at the battle of the Red Fork the two forces had met and done battle, and whilst the Stark boy had been severly injured, Lord Tarly wrote that he had managed to do what countless others had plotted, dreamed and failed to achieve, Tywin Lannister's death.

"And where pray tell does Lord Tarly say he was when my father was fighting the Stark brat? Where were his men?" Cersei asked trying to keep her voice level.

Maester Pycelle seemed to shrink under her gaze and he timidly replied "He says that he had just received the raven sent from the capital your grace, and had set out to do as commanded, when he came upon some 10 Lannister Soldiers who had fled from the battle telling anyone who would listen about the death of Lord Tywin."

"So Lord Tarly has taken to believing the words of cravens has he? What proof does he has that says my father is dead other than the word of men not brave enough to stand and fight?" Cersei asked incensed.

Pycelle shifted uncomfortably in his chair before saying, "Lord Tarly writes that he at first did not believe the soldiers, because as you say they had fled like cravens, but as he and his men marched closer to where the battle was said to have taken place he saw the death and destruction and he saw Lord Tywin's head mounted on a spike."

Cersei had to withhold a scream that was beginning to build inside of her and she said in a voice of ice "So did Lord Tarly flee himself from the battle or did he take the fight to the Stark brat's forces?"

Again Pycelle shifted uncomfortably before saying "He was taken prisoner your grace. He writes from a cell in Riverrun."

Cersei inwardly groaned. Randyll Tarly had been captured and was now being held to ransom in Riverrun, with her father dead and Tarly now in chains along with her fool brother Jamie, Cersei began to worry about how secure Tommem's throne truly was. The Stark boy would continue to claim independence and it was likely now once news spread that the other kingdoms may try and break away as well, something had to be done to stop that from happening. "Pycelle write to Lord Baelish at the Vale tell him to stop procrastinating and call the banners of the vale. He is the lawful Lord Paramount of the Trident, these rebels are causing his lands trouble, it is his problem write to him and remind him of that."

Pycelle bowed his head and said "Yes your grace."

"Before you go maester, what was this other letter that you spoke of?" Cersei enquired, she hoped that it was no more bad news, there was only so much drama one could take after all.

Once more she noted that Pycelle shifted uncomfortably in his chair and it was beginning to grate on Cersei's nerves, she'd offer to glue his arse to the seat so he could stay put if he did it one more time. He swallowed once before speaking "The second letter comes from Darry your grace. There has been an accident there. A fire broke out in the kitchens, your grace's cousin Lancel and his wife died in the blaze as did half of the people living there."

Cersei merely grunted at that until she remembered her uncle Kevan had been staying at Darry, if he was dead then all would be lost "And what of my uncle Kevan Pycelle, does the letter not say what became of him?"

Pycelle swallowed again before saying "No body was found your grace, no one knows whether Lord Kevan is alive or dead."

Cersei Lannister could feel her grasp on the Iron Throne begin to slip away as Pycelle said those words. "Write to those still loyal to us in the Riverlands, and write to Gregor Clegane, I want a search party out looking for my uncle, whoever finds him will be rewarded with a lordship and 500 dragons. If found he is to be brought to the capital."

She would not let the Iron Throne slip through her grasp, not now she had it so firmly in her hands, not again.

**Riverrun**

Margaery Tyrell- Stark- sat watching over her husband as he tossed and turned in a fitful sleep. Her husband had been brought back to Riverrun after the Battle of the Red Fork hailed as a hero for slaying the mighty Tywin Lannister. But he had sustained grave injuries in doing so; in fact the injuries had been so bad that at one point Maester Vyman, the maester at Riverrun had been worried that her husband would die from his wounds.

Of course with some milk of the poppy and some rest, her husband had managed to overcome the worst of his injuries but he had not woken up since being brought back to Riverrun, back to her and his mother and sister. She was beginning to worry, what if he never woke up again? Their marriage had been consummated unlike her previous two, but there was no child on the way for Margaery had bled the night before he had come back, and she had felt such disappointment she was surprised at it. Whilst her husband may not have been as good looking as Renly nor as outgoing as he was, he was certainly very kind and nice everything Sansa had said he was, and Margaery found herself desperately wanting him to wake up not just so that they could go back to Winterfell but so that she could get to know him better, for now with Garlan, Leonnette and her grandmother gone home she did feel quite lonely. True her good-mother was friendly as was her good-sister but the rest of the men treated her courteously but she could tell that they were all still wary of her, the Rose of Highgarden. She wanted her husband to wake up so that she could find out more about him and why he was so kind to her, when he had no reason to be. On their wedding day he had been so gentle with her, Margaery had been surprised, she had thought that after having spent the past two years at war a man such as her husband would have lost whatever gentleness he would have once had, but no he was kind to her and spoke to her so freely, Margaery for once actually felt happy with herself for going along with one of her grandmother's plots. But now her husband was unconscious and she didn't know whether or not he would wake up again.

So wrapped up was she in her thoughts she didn't even notice her good-mother walk into the room and stand next to her until she heard her say "He will live."

Margaery was startled by the sudden sound of her good mother's voice, turning to her she asked "My lady?"

Catelyn Stark replied "My son, he will live. He fought the Ironborn and Roose Bolton to win back the north. He has fought and seen things no man should have to see. He is strong he will live."

Margaery had no response for that, but it seemed that she didn't need to have one for her good-mother was staring intently at Edwyn, whom Margaery noticed belatedly had just opened his eyes for the first time in weeks and was looking right at her.

**Volantis**

In the ruins of the city of Volantis, Danaerys Targaryen the Mother of Dragons met Euron Greyjoy known to all as the Crow's Eye.

Ser Barristan was extremely wary of the Crow's Eye and what he could want of Danaerys, the man's reputation preceded him and so when he had extended an invitation to Danaerys to meet, Barristan had done all he could to warn her away from meeting with the man, but his warnings were to no avail as Danaerys simply smiled at him and said that he need not fear for her, as her dragons would protect her. Barristan had a strange feeling that the dragons were what the Crow's Eye wanted and looking at the man, he thought that he had guessed correctly.

The Crow's Eye was just as slimy as Barristan recalled him being, and when the man spoke Barristan had to repress a shudder "Your Grace, it is an honour to finally meet you."

Danaerys replied "Thank you for meeting me Lord Greyjoy. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The Crow's Eye smiled a sly smile and said "I come proposing an alliance your grace."

"An alliance? And what would this alliance be Lord Greyjoy?" Danaerys asked.

Barristan was very weary now, there was only one thing that Greyjoy could want and Barristan didn't think it would be something Danaerys would be willing to give him.

"Well your grace, I have control over the Iron fleet that is 40 ships to take you and yours plus my men back to Westeros to help reclaim your throne." The Crow's Eye said

Danaerys then asked "And what would you wish for in return?"

"I would ask for much your grace, just your hand in marriage so that we could rule together." The Crow's Eye replied.

Danaerys eyes narrowed "You wish this alliance to be sealed with our marriage Lord Greyjoy? Pray tell me why I should consent to this alliance when, as your rightful Queen you owe your fealty to me, giving me your ships should be an honour for you not a bargaining tool."

Barristan's hand was on his sword pommel when the Crow's Eye brought out a horn and said "I believe you should accept this offer your Grace for I have a dragon horn from Valryia which will allow me with one blow to control your dragons and use them for my own purposes. Accept the terms and I shall not blow the horn, do not accept and I shall have the horn blown and turn your dragons on you."

**The Wall**

Jon Snow the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch surveyed his surroundings and sighed. Things had been very tense for a long time at the Wall, ever since Jon had agreed to allow the Wildlings through, Jon had constantly been on high alert for any potential skirmishes that may get out of hand between his men and the Wildlings. Thankfully these had been few and far between though there were signs that the alliance which was uneasy at the best of times may be beginning to crack.

Jon had other worries as well, since news of Stannis's death had reached the Wall courtesy of a raven from Jon's brother Edwyn, the Queen's men and Lady Selyse had been locked away in the King's Tower and had not yet ventured outside, no matter how hard Jon tried to get them to come out they never would. Melisandre had strangely disappeared once news of Stannis's death had become common knowledge; she had been last seen leading her night prayers and then had simply vanished. Jon had also not seen Lady Shireen since news of her father's death had reached the Wall, at first Jon had thought that she was with her mother, but then upon speaking with some of the men who helped maintain the King's Tower where Lady Selyse and her men stayed, Jon learnt that Shireen was not there and had not been there for some time. This deeply worried Jon, but he could ill afford to send a ranging party out to find her, what with the snows almost shoulder high and with the wights attacking with increasing frequency.

Jon sighed he had a feeling something bad was going to happen soon, he just didn't know what it could be.


	20. Chapter 20

**One Week Later**

**Riverrun**

Edwyn grimaced as pain racked his body as he went to get up. In a flash Margaery was there to help him up, smiling gratefully at her Edwyn moved to put on a robe and go and oversee the preparations for the departure to Winterfell. He'd woken up a week ago after apparently being in a coma for three weeks after the Battle of Red Fork, in the most blinding pain, his ribs hurt his arms hurt his chest hurt. It seemed he'd taken quite a bruising during the battle, but the good news was that they'd won, Tywin Lannister was dead- Edwyn still had a hard time believing that he was the one to kill the man- and the Lannister forces had been routed, those that had remained were either in chains in the dungeons or had fled back to the Westerlands with Gregor Clegane. Edwyn was not particularly fussed about those men who had fled back with Gregor Clegane, their number was very small and with winter here the Lannisters would be mad to try and lay siege to Riverrun. At any rate Edwyn just wished to return home now, he'd had enough with fighting.

"Are you well my lord?" Margaery asked concern etched on her face.

"I'm well my Lady and please when it's just us call me Ed." Edwyn replied

Margaery smiled and said "Only if you promise to call me Margery my-L- Ed."

"Deal." Edwyn replied.

Taking Margaery's arm and tucking it into his, Edwyn walked out of his room and began the greeting the people of the castle and his men, they had all served him loyally during this campaign and Edwyn owed them dearly. He glanced at his wife, he still had trouble believing Margaery Tyrell was his wife, when he had married her, he'd done so for the swords and the promise of peace that marrying her would bring, but now as he looked at her, he felt much more for her, she had taken care of him during his stay in bed and he found himself falling for her rather alarmingly. His mother seemed to have noticed this as well for her smiles always seemed rather knowing whenever she saw him with Margaery.

He turned to speak with Margaery "How are preparations going my lady? Is all to your liking?"

She smiled at him before saying "Yes Ed, everything is to my liking. Everything is coming along nicely, we shall be ready to leave soon."

Edwyn replied "Good, that is good. Have you spoke to my mother and Arya recently? I hope they're not giving you too much trouble?"

"I have spoken to Lady Catelyn a bit albeit briefly, I haven't had the chance to speak with Lady Arya yet but they aren't giving me any reason to complain my lord. Why do you ask?"

"Well, when we return to Winterfell, you'll meet some more of my family and I just would like it if you didn't feel uncomfortable."

Margaery smiled, seemingly appreciating his concern, and the royal couple continued walking.

**King's Landing**

Lord Varys Master of Whispers listened with rapt attention and concealed glee as he listened to Cersei rant and rave about treacherous lords especially Littlefinger. They had received word from the maester at Castle Darry- or rather what was left of the castle- that Kevan Lannister's body had been found hanging limply from a tree not 5 miles from the remains of the castle, it appeared he'd either done the deed himself or had been hung by outlaws.

With her uncle dead and Littlefinger haven replied back saying that due to fierce snows at the Vale, the armies of the Vale would be unwilling and unable to march, Cersei Lannister had descended into madness. It made Varys quite happy to see the lioness of Casterly Rock brought down so low, with her brother in chains there was no one else who could continue to try and harass the Riverlands, which would pave the way for the Northern forces to continue their march north, and allow the Riverlords some time with their families with winter here. And by the time winter was in full swing, Aegon would have hopefully taken the capital and the kingdoms would be more than willing to pledge their fealty to their rightful king.

As Varys walked from the small council chamber and made his way back to his rooms, he couldn't help but think that everything was beginning to fall into place, Tywin Lannister was dead, Kevan Lannister was dead, Dorne had secretly pledged their allegiance to Aegon's cause and the king himself had invaded the Stormlands under Tyrion Lannister suggestion and had so far managed to take several castles, and according Lord Connington's latest reports they were on the march for Griffin's Roost. By the time word reached the capital Griffin's Roost would already have fallen and the there would be nothing Cersei Lannister would be able to do about it as she had already firmly alienated Mace Tyrell, the Westerlands were spent and with winter here no one else would be willing to risk engaging in another conflict.

However, Varys's good mood was put to an abrupt end when he read the letter that one of his many little birds had given to him. Danaerys Targaryen had married Euron Greyjoy. Now that had put his plans all of his years of hard work and plotting to ashes. How had this been allowed to happen, how had Ser Barristan not managed to persuade the girl from doing something that would make it so much harder for her to gain any support from the rest of the kingdoms. He would need to write to Illyrio and get him to delay them coming to Westeros, Aegon would need to have the throne now, without Danaerys.

**Griffin's Roost**

Jon Connington Hand of the True King, Aegon Targaryen the sixth of his name, stared out from the battlements and breathed in the air. The battle had been relatively bloodless for Aegon's forces; the men left to hold Griffin's Roost had been taken completely unawares, and had been easily defeated.

They now held four castles within the Stormlands, Griffin's Roost, Greenstone, Evenfall Hall, and Rainwood. Aegon was determined to capture Storm's End to right previous wrongs done by House Baratheon to House Targaryen, and Jon supposed that it would be fitting.

He read the letter that had been waiting for him, and as he read its contents he began to feel a sense of anticipation building up in him, from what the letter said the Lannisters were a spent force, the Tyrells had marched back to the Reach and were at odds with the Iron Throne. The North and the Riverlands were getting ready for a harsh winter, and the Vale remained quiet. Dorne of course had pledged their support to Aegon's cause the minute they had landed in Westeros, much to the boy's delight. Their spears and swords would do well in the coming battles.

Jon turned round when he heard Haldon cough. "A letter has just arrived for you, my lord."

Taking the letter from Haldon, Jon opened it and saw that it came from the cheesemonger in Pentos. As he read through the letter he felt his heart plummet and the bells from his nightmares begin to toll very loudly. How could it be possible? How could the eunuch and the fat man have allowed Danaerys- who was key to ensuring Aegon's acceptance amongst the nobles- to marry Euron bloody Greyjoy? How?


	21. Chapter 21

**Riverrun**

Edwyn Stark watched as the men in the courtyard began to saddle the horses in Riverrun's courtyard. The northern party was finally ready to leave Riverrun and return north. Edwyn thought that they were leaving at just the right time, winter had finally arrived and the snows were getting much deeper, he thought that now was the right time to leave before the snowstorms and blizzards kicked in back home.

Edwyn waited until he saw his wife, mother and sister all firmly ensconced in the wheelhouse, the wheelhouse may slow down their progress but Edwyn didn't want to take any risks, not with the only family he had left now, what with Rickon being the Lord of Winterfell in his absence and Sansa pregnant in Highgarden, no Edwyn was determined to ensure that his mother, wife and sister were comfortable and safe inside the wheelhouse with Lady Brienne riding next to them for protection, even if Arya grumbled.

Turning to Hallis Mollen, whom he had met whilst marching south the second time round Edwyn said "I'll be back in a moment Hal, I just have something I need to see to."

Hallis looked like he wished to protest but simply nodded, and Edwyn proceeded to walk back inside the castle and made his way down to where the dungeons were. He knew that perhaps it was not the best idea to do this just before leaving, but Edwyn thought that he had to do it, for he owed it to Robb, to father and to his people to leave the Kingslayer with one finally message before he left and hopefully never had to see the accursed man again.

Nodding to the jailers Edwyn stopped walking just in front of the man's cell and waited for the man to realise his presence. Sure enough the Kingslayer looked up through bleary eyes and said "Ah your grace, so nice of you to join me. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Edwyn was pleased to note that the man's mocking tone, which he had had the last time he had been kept in the dungeons seemed to have completely vanished. Edwyn replied "I've come to say goodbye Kingslayer, you won't be seeing me again at all, and if I do happen to see you again, it is likely that your head will be mounted on a spike on the gates of Riverrun."

The Kingslayer looked slightly startled by the venom in Edwyn's tones and when he replied "Ah so you've come to gloat have you? The mighty Edwyn Stark, King in the North and the Trident, the man who beat a cripple twice, and was forced to clean up the mess made by his elder brother the young wolf. How nice for you. How's your little rose of a wife doing, managed to find out where to stick your cock yet?"

Edwyn merely grimaced and said "Try and mock me all you want Kingslayer, I just have one last thing to say to you. Your father and uncle are dead. Your sister is surrounded by enemies and a Targaryen has hold over the Stormlands. I hope you realise that the day you pushed my brother out of that tower in Winterfell, was the day you brought death and destruction to the seven kingdoms. I hope you feel proud of yourself, and rot in all of the seven hells, you piece of shit."

With that Edwyn spared no further attention to the Kingslayer and walked out of the dungeons and the castle. Embracing his uncle and his great uncle, bowing to his aunt by marriage, Edwyn said "My lords, my lady, it has been an absolute pleasure to meet you and share bread with you. Next time we meet I hope it will be under less trying circumstances. "

"Aye your grace." Edwyn's uncle Edmure replied.

"I shall write to you when we have safely reached Winterfell. Till then farewell." Edwyn said as he mounted his horse. Nodding to Hallis Mollen, Edwyn signalled for the northern company to begin the long march north. As Edwyn Stark, King in the North and the Trident rode out of Riverrun; he had no idea that he would soon be seeing his uncle sooner than expected.

**Storm's End**

Dead bodies and the screams of men echoed around the walls of Storm's End. The Golden Company had stormed the castle in the dead of the night and had managed to catch the garrison of 500 men led by Mathis Rowan of guard. Jon Connington plunged his sword into yet another man of the garrison, and ran on attacking the next man. All the while keeping an eye out for Aegon, who had decided to lead the invasion himself and had come up with the idea of storming the castle at night. Jon was relieved to see Rolly with his white cloak billowing behind him, a few paces behind Aegon preventing any who would try and attack Aegon from behind.

Jon's attention was diverted back to matters in front of him, when he felt a searing pain in his chest and looked up to see a brute of a man had managed to get his sword into Jon's armour, gasping with the pain as the man pulled his sword out, Jon managed to lean forward and somehow managed to plunge his own sword into the man's armour and when Jon pulled out his sword, he had the faint sense that the man's blood was on his sword. But he had no time to stop and check as soon he was hacking and cutting his way through more men, all the while trying to keep one eye out for Aegon and Rolly.

Eventually Jon found himself face to face with a stout and clean shaven man whom Jon thought was Mathis Rowan himself. The man certainly looked like he had been in the thick of the battle what with various cuts and dents in his armour. Jon pointed his sword at the man's chin and shouted to be heard above the din "Surrender, and we shall let you live."

Jon sighed internally when he heard the man snort and say "No, Mace may surrender to you. But we in house Rowan take our oaths of allegiance seriously. We are sworn to King Tommem and we shall die fighting for him, before we bend the knee to another pretender."

"He's not a pretender, he is the rightful king and the best man for the job. He is Aegon Targaryen, the sixth of his name. Tommem Baratheon is just a boy and a usurper and a Lannister puppet!" Jon shouted at the man.

"Well he may be a boy, but we bent the knee to him and I am too old now to bend to a Targaryen again." Rowan replied sounding as if he was almost resigned to his fate.

"Very well then, so be it." Jon said before he raised his sword and cleaved Mathis Rowan's head clean off his body.

Moving away from the fallen body of Lord Mathis Rowan, Jon looked around the hall and found it deserted, wondering what had happened Jon continued walking on and eventually found Aegon standing in the middle of the Great Hall in Storm's End, with the Golden Company and some of the men who had made up the garrison at Storm's End.

Aegon smiled at Jon upon seeing him and said "Ah Jon, there you are. I've been looking for you! We've got Storm's End now my Lord. We have the Stormlands!"

Jon was momentarily stunned, and then managed to stutter out "H-h-how, how did you get them to surrender your grace? Mathis Rowan refused to." Jon felt like a child asking that, as he looked around the hall and saw the men of the Golden Company drinking freely and talking happily as if they hadn't just stormed an impenetrable castle.

Aegon's smile grew even wider when he replied "Well, after you had gone off, me and Duck cut a bloody path through some of the garrison before we found ourselves face to face with Edgar Rowan, Lord Rowan's son and heir, and we told him we'd spare him and his men lives if he agreed to surrender, which he did. So now Storm's End belongs to us!"

Jon smiled then; they'd managed to capture the Baratheon stronghold and had if he counted correctly only lost some 200 men doing so. That was good, that was very, very good. They were one step closer to putting Aegon back on the throne. Jon then spoke to Aegon "That is good news your grace. Well done, let us feast and drink tonight for tomorrow we have urgent news to discuss." Urgent in deed Jon thought, he had yet to tell Aegon that his aunt, the woman Aegon had thought he would be marrying since he was old enough to understand who he was, had married the Crow's Eye. He didn't know how he was going to explain that, the eunuch had some explaining to do.

**King's Landing**

"Am I correct in saying that the Stark Brat is preparing to leave Riverrun and head north with his men Lord Varys?" Cersei Lannister asked.

Varys replied "Yes your grace, you are correct indeed. It appears that with winter finally here Lord Stark has finally decided to head back to the wasteland he calls home." Varys knew that, saying anything else would likely anger the queen, and after the rant she had had at Pycelle the other day, Varys decided he rather like having his head attached to his body. He was also keeping a close eye on that Qyburn fellow that seemed to be attached to Cersei Lannister's hip nowadays, and his little birds had reported some very strange and worrying things about the man.

"Do they still hold my brother in the dungeons of Riverrun?" Varys heard Cersei ask. Varys knew that whatever love there had been between the two Lannister Twins had greatly diminished since the war of the Five Kings had begun, Varys had made sure that Ser Jamie knew just exactly how his sister had tried to cure the ailment that his absence had caused her, Kettleblack, Lancel Lannister and some other Lannister cousin, had all be sleeping with the Queen Regent, and Jamie Lannister knew the truth of it before he had left to go fight the Ironborn.

"They do your grace. It would appear Stark is keeping him prisoner so as to prevent any further Lannister attacks in the Riverlands." Varys replied.

Cersei snorted "Well they can keep him, he's no use to anyone, cripple that he is. No that is not a concern for the moment. Pycelle has there been any response from either Littlefinger at the Eyrie or Gregor Clegane wherever the brute of a man is?"

Varys knew full well that there had been no response from Clegane, for he had had his little birds intercept any ravens heading for the Westerlands. It would not do to have Clegane in King's Landing before the prince had managed to take the capital. As for Littlefinger, he was not so sure, his little birds had been rather quite on news from the Vale as of late, and Varys wondered why that could be, his curiosity was further increased when he saw Pycelle shift rather uneasily in his chair.

"N-n-no your grace, there has been no reply from either Clegane or Lord Baelish as of yet. Though it is winter now and snow storms and blizzards have been known to cause ravens to go astray. I can send the ravens again if you wish?" Pycelle stammered.

"Yes, yes. Send the ravens again and keep sending them till you get a response. Now is there any other news that I must hear?" Cersei asked

There was no more news so the small council meeting was dismissed. Varys knew that things were going rather nicely, the North and the Riverlands hated the Lannisters and if they had sufficient reason to would bend the knee to their rightful king. The Westerlands would be brought under control once Lord Tyrion was given the Rock, the Stormlands had fallen to their rightful king through conquest, Dorne had pledged their allegiance already, all that was left was the Reach and the Vale. Varys would deal with those two kingdoms when the time came, and Littlefinger would learn that whilst he may play the game, it could only have one master. After all how he did have a thousand eyes and one.


	22. Chapter 22

**Three Weeks Later**

**Storm's End**

Jon Connington looked through the various letters that had come back from the Stormlords pledging their fealty to Aegon. It seemed that with both of Robert Baratheon's brothers dead, the Stormlords had had enough of being pushed around by the Lannisters and wished to renew their fealty to their rightful king. Jon did think that they may have been helped in reaching this conclusion by the proclamation Aegon put out into the ravens sent to the Stormlords, which declared that one lucky son of one of the Stormlords would get to marry Shireen Baratheon, who Aegon had recognised as the rightful Lady of Storm's End. That had of course appealed to all the power hungry Stormlords and their wives and had them pledging their fealty in any way possible.

"What are you thinking about Jon?" Jon looked up to find himself looking at Aegon; he hadn't heard the boy come in.

Quickly getting up he replied "Oh just looking at the letters from the Stormlords, who have all declared for you now your grace. I must say your idea of getting one of them to marry Shireen Baratheon was a very clever idea."

Aegon smiled at that and said "Well yes that is good now. I have a question for you Jon."

Jon tightened up then, would his king wish to know about his aunt now? "Oh your grace? And what that might be about?"

Aegon sighed and then said "Well I was just thinking about whom to put in my Kingsguard alongside Duck. I mean I know that my aunt has Ser Barristan with her, so obviously when we meet up he will be included into the guard. It's just that I am not too sure who else to include as well. I know the Tyrells will probably want their son Ser Loras to be included but who else is there?"

Jon grimaced, "Well your grace as I said before we left for Griffin's Roost perhaps it would be best to keep the other places of your Kingsguard open, so that when you take back your throne, you can reward those families who have been helpful to your cause to ensure their continued loyalty." Jon took a deep breath in, and decided that he might as well tell Aegon the news about Danaerys now. "Also your grace, I do not think it would be a wise idea to continue to wait for your Aunt to join us and bring Ser Barristan with her."

Aegon looked surprised at that and Jon could not really blame him. For as long as Aegon had been unable to understand who he was and why he was so important, he had always been told that he would marry his aunt and that together they would take back the Iron Throne. Aegon's surprise was evident when he asked "And what makes you say that Jon? I thought she would be coming here to Westeros. I know she was in Mantarys when we left but, surely she has to come our aid now and help us take back the throne? Why wouldn't she come now Lord Connington?"

Jon inhaled deeply, and then said "Because your grace, our sources report that she has married Euron Greyjoy, and has taken the Iron Fleet with her along with her dragons and her unsullied and is now sailing for Lys as we speak."

Aegon looked gobsmacked, his expression would have been quite comical in any other circumstance but today it was not."What do you mean she's married Euron Greyjoy? Is she mad? I thought that you said no one liked the Iron Islanders especially the Greyjoys! How could she marry him? Why would she marry him? Surely she has heard of what we have been doing here?!"

Jon sighed deeply "I know not why she had married Euron Greyjoy Aegon, but what I do know is that the man is evil and cunning and when they do learn of what we have been doing here he will likely advice Danaerys to kill you. So I suggest that we forget about having you marry her and focus on winning more allies to your cause."

Aegon inhaled deeply and said "Yes that's all very well Jon but if what you say is true, how are we going to defeat my aunt if she has unsullied, dragons and the Iron Fleet? Furthermore how we going to win the Iron Throne and fight my aunt?"

Jon exhaled "Well your aunt is being delayed by our fat friend across the narrow sea, she will not be in Westeros for some time. It is winter now anyway so she would be foolish to try and start a battle now, even the Crow's Eye is not so much of a fool. I suggest that all is not yet lost. We have the allegiance of the Stormlords and Dorne. The Tyrells are coming to pledge fealty to you, and the Lannisters hold on the throne grows weaker each and every day. I suggest that you wait for the Tyrells and your cousins to come here, then plot your next move." As he finished speaking Jon could only hope that what he was saying would be enough to allow Aegon to get back his throne. He'd failed the father, he would not, he could not fail the son.

**King's Landing**

"What do you mean you do not know how he died?! How difficult can it be to determine how someone died Pycelle!" Cersei Lannister shouted.

Varys had to hold back a titter as he watched to old Grand Maester squirm uncomfortably under the Queen Regent's scrutiny. He knew exactly why it was so difficult for Pycelle to actually learn how Qyburn had died, because he had made sure it was difficult for people to figure out. Varys was relieved that Qyburn was dead, the man had had a strange aura around him that reeked of death and sorcery, and Varys had not liked it one bit. Furthermore the man had tried to get Varys' own little birds to turn on him, and that was an error Varys could not afford to let go unpunished so he had duly ensure that the old man had been punished. And now Maester Pycelle the Lannister Lapdog was squirming under all the pressure.

"I-I-I do not know your grace. But there are no signs of bodily harm done to Lord Qyburn nor are there any signs of any poisons being used kill him. It seems as though he may simply have suffered from a heart failure and died in his sleep your grace." Pycelle stammered.

"But you say that it cannot possibly be as a result of a heart failure Pycelle. So what on earth could it possibly be?" Cersei replied scathingly.

"I am not sure your grace, but I will endeavour to continue to find out." Pycelle replied.

"Yes very well then." Cersei replied.

Varys knew that Pycelle was lying through his teeth when he said that he would try and find out who was behind Qyburn's "Death" for he knew that the old man hated Qyburn with a passion, and was more than happy that the man was dead. In fact Varys was certain that since news of Tywin and Kevan Lannister's deaths had reached the capital Pycelle had stopped being the Lannisters lapdog and had indeed remembered the vows he had taken so long ago. It appeared that Pycelle feared what Cersei Lannister's increasing paranoia would do to the people of Westeros, but the old man had come to this fear far too late, the foolish woman had had more levels of wildfire put under the Red Keep since Stannis Baratheon's failed invasion.

"Lord Varys what news do you have from Storm's End?" Cersei asked

**Oh just the best type of news your grace, a Targaryen from your silver prince lives and is marching on you **Varys thought aloud he only said "It has fallen your grace."

"Fallen?! What do you mean its fallen? We only just managed to root out the last of Stannis's men from the castle how could it have fallen? Who has it fallen to?" Cersei asked, Varys could notice the rising panic in her voice.

Trying to keep the smirk from his voice Varys said "My little birds report that it has fallen to the Golden Company who are being led by someone calling himself Aegon Targaryen."

Varys had to hold back from laughing at the comical expression that came across Cersei's face as he finished speaking. "Aegon Targaryen? No that can't be possible Rhaegar's son was killed during the sack. This must be an imposter?! What else do have about the Golden Company who else is leading them?"

"Jon Connington, your grace." Varys said.

"Impossible he drank himself to death. Your little birds are lying!" Cersei shouted.

"They are not your grace, they told me of a man who commands the company along with the Targaryen Pretender and his description matches Jon Connington's." Varys replied.

"I want you to find out all you can about this pretender and what his motives are. Pycelle write to Gregor Clegane and instruct him to take his men and march to Storm's End, I would have this pretender dead. I would wish Danaerys Targaryen dead as well if I could help it, but she is unlikely to find any support here now she's married the Crow's Eye." Cersei said talking more to herself then to anyone else.

After promising to look into the events of Storm's End, Varys made his way back to his chambers and thought,** everything is going to plan, and the Lannisters are surrounded by enemies. Let us hope that Illyrio can deal with the Crow's Eye.**

**Oldstones**

The snow was falling heavily outside, and Edwyn would have felt guilty about being nice and cosy inside a tent whilst his guards stood outside in the freezing cold weather, but laying in bed with an arm around his wife and one of her many curls of hair in his hand, Edwyn found that he could seem to muster enough guilt.

"You think too loudly my lord." Margaery said.

Edwyn smiled "Oh sorry I'll try and think a little quieter."

"Oh please don't. Do tell me what you are thinking about." Margaery said

"Well if you must know, I was just thinking that I should really be outside with my men planning more for our march north. But I find myself unable and unwilling to move from your side my lady. You have me firmly under your spell." Edwyn replied.

Edwyn was delighted to hear Margaery laugh, everything always felt so much better when she laughed- fool your already falling in love with her- "Well my lord, I must say I am rather glad you decided to stay. The bed is not as warm without you here." Margaery said.

Edwyn pretended to be surprised and said in a voice of mock hurt "Is that all I am to you my lady a bed warmer?"

Margaery laughed at that and said "Oh no Ed, your much more than that to me. You're my Winter Knight my king, my husband." And with that she raised her head and kissed him full on the mouth and Edwyn lost the ability to think coherently for some time.

He groaned when he heard a "Your grace?" Coming from outside his tent. Turning to Margaery he said "I guess we must see what this is about eh my lady?"

She nodded and Edwyn called for whoever it was outside to come in.

Edwyn was surprised to find that he was looking at Lady Brienne, his mother's sworn sword, she usually slept in a tent not too far from where his mother and Arya slept.

"My lady is something amiss? Is there something wrong with my mother or sister?" Edwyn asked and he was grateful for the fee of Margaery's hand on his arm, calming him down before any major worry could creep in.

Lady Brienne replied "No your grace Lady Catelyn and Lady Arya are fine. A raven arrived from Winterfell for your mother and she would like you to read it."

Edwyn looked at Margaery wondering what this raven could be about, internally he worried that something had happened to Rickon and decided to get up. "If you could wait outside my lady, I will get changed and come to my mother's tent forthwith."


	23. Chapter 23

**Oldstones**

As Edwyn walked out of his and Margaery's tent having put on a robe and some breeches, he noted that whilst it was late, it was not too late for there were men still sitting next to fires warming themselves. He also noted that the snow on the ground had gotten much deeper and now came up to his knees, if that was what it was like in the Riverlands he worried what it would be like back in the north and in Winterfell, and whether or not the snow would seriously delay them arriving back home or not.

Edwyn entered his mother's tent leaving Brienne at the entrance, and when his mother looked up he was surprised to see her looking red eyed, concerned he whispered "Mother?" But she gave no response and instead pressed a finger to her lips and nodded back to the bed where Arya was still fast asleep and handed him the letter that she had been reading when he had entered. Edwyn looked at the seal that had been put onto the letter and saw that it had indeed come from Winterfell. So he was curious as to what could be in this letter that would have made his mother cry. He then began to read the letter and comprehension hit him like a tidal wave. The letter was written in a childish hand and was written in the way in which Edwyn's younger brother Rickon would speak. It asked how their mother was doing and when she would be coming home, and whether or not Sansa and Arya would be coming home as well. It also went onto say that Rickon was having lots of fun with the two Frey boys that were still in Winterfell but that Rickon missed Bran greatly. It finished with Rickon saying how much he loved their mother and siblings, and how much he missed them.

Edwyn finished reading and then looked up at his mother and saw even more tears were falling from her eyes "Mother..." Edwyn began, before he hugged her firmly.

He heard his mother sob and say "He's written to me Edwyn, my baby has written to me and I haven't seen him for two years now. He won't remember me when we return Edwyn, how can I live with that. I spent so much time away from Winterfell he won't remember me."

Edwyn looked at his mother then and said "Enough mother. Of course he will remember you, this letter is proof of that. He's written it hasn't he, he remembers everyone of us, I made sure of that before I left. You have to have hope mother, you have to. We have Arya back, Rickon's in Winterfell, Sansa's in Highgarden. I will find Bran mother I promise you, I won't stop until I have found him."

His mother gave him a watery smile then "I'm being silly aren't I?"

Edwyn smiled and said "No mother you're not being silly, you've just been away from home for so long you're worried that's all. But I promise you once we get back we never have to move south of the neck ever again."

His mother smiled at that and then said "The letter from Rickon was not all that came. I found this note on my table after I had put Arya to sleep. It is rather strange."

Edwyn took the note from his mother and read it:

**Wolf, beware the uncle of the sun of winter and beware the proud stallion of the north. For they are in the pockets of those who would see your ruin.**

Edwyn could not make sense of the note, the sun of winter? Well that had to be House Karstark, but Harrion was its lord and had no uncles, and had proven his loyalty to Edwyn during the march south and against the Lannisters. Who was the stallion of the north, there could be no such thing, and those who would see his ruin were dead, he'd made sure of it. Turning to his mother Edwyn asked "Have you been able to make much sense from this note mother?"

She shook her head and said "No Edwyn, I haven't the only bit I have been able to work out is that House Karstark is mentioned but I don't know about the uncle part of the note nor the stallion part."

Edwyn nodded "Yeah I figured out the part about House Karstark, but Harrion has no uncles only a great uncle and that great uncle's sons. Whom could it be then one of those three that we need to be wary of?"

Catelyn sighed "I do not know Edwyn, but stay vigilant and ensure Margaery is safe."

Edwyn nodded "I will do and I will double the strength of the protection around you and Arya." With that he took the note with him and walked out of his mother's tent and walked back to his own tent, wondering what else he would have to face before he could finally settle back down in Winterfell with his family.

**Riverrun**

Edmure Tully, Lord of Riverrun held his new born daughter Bethany in his arms and smiled. He was happy, after a shaky start to their marriage he and his wife Rosilin had become very friendly with each other, and Edmure didnot know what he would do without her beside him. As he looked at his daughter he swore to himself that she would never know any of the hardships of the last few years, she would never be used as a bartering tool to secure alliances; she would be treated well and would have a loving family. As he handed his daughter back to Rosilin, he said to her "I'll be back soon my love, there is something I need to do."

Walking out of the room where his wife and his daughter currently were, Edmure nodded to his uncle the Blackfish, and then proceeded to walk down to the dungeons where their prisoners were kept; there was someone in particular that Edmure wished to speak to.

As he stood in front of the Kingslayer's cell, he waited for the man to wake up and look at him. Edmure found it to be a rather funny twist of fate, the mighty Jamie Lannister now missing one hand and looking like a tramp, was being held prisoner in Riverrun's dungeons for the second time during this war, except this time there was no chance that the man would escape, nor was there any chance of Edmure ending up in a prisoner cell in Casterly Rock, like what had been proposed to him during his month of captivity after the Red Wedding.

As the Kingslayer opened his eyes and looked up at him, Edmure had to repress the urge to throttle the man who had been the cause of so much damage to his home and to his family.

"Ah if it isn't Lord Tully, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company my lord?" the Kingslayer asked.

Edmure merely smiled and said "I've come to let you know that you won't be going anywhere for a long time Kingslayer. Your father is dead, your uncle is dead, your sister has thoroughly alienated any potential allies she may have had in the south, and your bastard son's reign as king is drawing closer to an end. There is a Targaryen occupying the Stormlands, with the Stormlords fealty. Nope you aren't going anywhere."

Edmure was happy to note that for once it seemed the Kingslayer had nothing witty to say as a retort to what he had just said and in fact appeared to be rather speechless. Edmure gloated now and said "What has a cat, or should I say trout got your tongue. No Kingslayer you won't be going anywhere anytime soon, and if your sister get's Clegane to raid my home again, I'll have you executed and have your head sent back to your sister. So you see despite your father doing everything he could to destroy the Riverlands, he failed, you failed. House Lannister is doomed Kingslayer and all because you couldn't keep your cock away from your sister's cunt." And with that Edmure spat at the Kingslayer and walked away from his cell and back into the main part of the castle.

**The Eyrie**

Petyr Baelish sighed. The household in the Eyrie really should have been in the Gates of the Moon by now, but because of his wife's pregnancy and her brat of a son's ill health they had been unable to move down, and would now have to wait for the next two weeks before Lysa gave birth for them to actually move. This had of course thrown Baelish's plans of escaping the Vale and finding Danaerys Targaryen of course. Littlefinger was having to content himself with plotting the death of Harry Hardying Robert's heir.

Littlefinger knew that Harry liked hunting and from his various informants also enjoyed visiting brothels, this Littlefinger would use to his advantage. Harry Hardying was going for a hunt in a few days time, before the winter snows picked up, Littlefinger would ensure that he never came back. Then he would work on manipulating Robert Arryn through his mother, and then he would make his play to get Sansa into his hands and make her the daughter that should have been his and Cat's.

**Storm's End**

Jon Connington watched with some apprehension as Aegon greeted his uncle Prince Oberyn and his cousins Arianne Martell and Obara, Nymeria and Tyene Sand. The Spider had sent word ahead of the Dornish party's arrival that they were coming to Storm's End to openly declare their support for Aegon's cause and provide their military support for the eventual march on King's Landing. Jon suspected though that by the presence of Arianne Martell that the Dornish contingent wished for something more as well, they wished for Arianne to become Queen. Whilst Jon was reluctant to allow this to happen, he supposed that Aegon marrying his cousin would be better than him marrying his aunt Danaerys who by all accounts was steadily descending into madness.

Jon was taken out of his reverie when he heard his name being spoken. Turning to see who had said it he found himself face to face with Prince Oberyn, Jon had never really liked the man before and that was a feeling that he found upon looking at Prince Oberyn had not changed much. "My Prince, it is nice to see you again after so many years."

"Yes, yes it is. Nice to know that your death was faked as was my nephew's. Though why you didn't get into contact with us much sooner is very puzzling. But enough about that you know why we are here Lord Connington, we are to formally declare our allegiance with my nephew Prince Aegon's cause, and to pledge our military strength to yours and help Aegon win back the Iron Throne and avenge Elia and Rhaenys." Oberyn said.

Jon nodded but he still wanted a vocal confirmation of his suspicions as to why Arianne Martell had been brought to Storm's End and so he said "That is all well and good my Prince, but I must ask if that was why you were solely here for, why bring Princess Arianne and your three daughters? Unless they are here for some other purpose?"

Oberyn laughed and said "Ah very good my Lord, I see the years in exile have not dimmed your wits. Very well then, since we have declared our allegiance to Aegon, my brother would like to seal this deal. We would like it if Aegon would consent to marry my niece Arianne to strengthen the ties between House Targaryen and House Martell." The and make up for the insult done to Elia went unsaid but Jon could hear it in the way Oberyn phrased each and every word he said, as if to goad Jon into a response.

Jon hesitated with what to say and thanked the gods that Aegon had picked up his father's way of speaking when he heard him say "Why uncle, I would be delighted to accept this betrothal and would be honoured to make Arianne my bride. As long as she is ok with it?"

Nicely done my prince, Jon thought, and as he saw Arianne flash Aegon a deceptively shy smile, he knew the deal was done. Trying not to sigh Jon said "Very well the alliance has been sealed. Prince Oberyn send a letter to your brother and have him ready his men to march in a moon's turn, for once we have the Tyrells on side we march for the capital.


	24. Chapter 24

**Four Weeks Later**

**The Twins**

Edwyn Stark stood in the entrance to his and Margaery's tent and watched as heavy snow fell onto the ground. It had been snowing nonstop for the past few days since they had arrived at the Twins, and Edwyn knew that his men were getting frustrated with the slow pace of their journey, and that they simply wished to return to their homes and families and wait out the winter. Edwyn knew however, that it was unlikely that they would be able to return to their homes immediately after returning north, for upon their arrival at the Twins, Perwyn had presented Edwyn with a letter that had come from the Wall, which contained some very dire news. It appeared that the Wall was being attacked by enemies that had last been seen some thousands of years ago, initially Edwyn had been sceptical of the truth behind the letter, but upon reading a similar letter from Jon that Perwyn had given him, Edwyn had decided to give the Night's Watch the benefit of the doubt and had sent a letter to Winterfell instructing Maester Luwin to send ravens to the other northern houses asking them to have men ready to march upon Edwyn's return to Winterfell. He expected to stay at the Twins for another couple of days as if they waited any longer they would likely have to wait for winter to end, and that was something that Edwyn could not afford to do, what with his men beginning to tire and his mother and younger sister beginning to suffer the effects of a long journey.

Edwyn's thoughts soon drifted off to the other piece of news that Perwyn had thought fit to tell him upon his arrival at the Twins. It appeared that someone calling himself Aegon Targaryen had managed to capture Storm's End and had managed somehow to get the Stormlords to pledge their fealty to him, it also appeared that Dorne had openly declared for this Aegon Targaryen, and from what Margaery had told him it appeared that the Reach under Mace Tyrell would also declare for Aegon. Upon asking her why she felt that her father would declare for Aegon, Margaery had said that her father had felt slighted that the Lannisters had rejected the marriage proposal between herself and Tommem, and would most likely wish to reintegrate himself and the Reach with the Targaryens especially as the Reach had stayed loyal to them during Robert's Rebellion. Edwyn had not asked Margaery this, but he did secretly worry that perhaps her father may try and seal his alliance with Aegon by getting the man to agree to marry Margaery herself, and Edwyn knew that Margaery had always wished to be queen and so he feared that she would willingly agree to the proposal and may even ask Edwyn to have their marriage annulled so she could become the one true queen of Westeros. Edwyn feared this because against his better judgement he had fallen quite in love with Margaery, his rose of a wife, and could not imagine living without her.

Edwyn's stream of thoughts were interrupted when he felt Margaery's arms wrap around his chest and he felt her place her chin on his shoulder, he exhaled a breath that he didn't even know he had been holding in. "What's bothering you my love?" He heard Margaery ask, and Edwyn felt his heart flip surely she wouldn't think about leaving him if she was calling him "my love" would she?

"Nothing Marge, I'm just thinking that is all." Edwyn replied.

"Oh and what about, may I ask?" Margaery said curiosity evident in her tone.

"Just about the letters Perwyn showed me. I'm trying to decide whether or not marching to Winterfell and then marching onto the wall is a good idea or not. I'm worried that perhaps the men won't wish to march to the wall, after all they have been fighting for two years now, and winter is finally here. They'll wish to return home to their lands and their families, not fight some foe that many don't even believe in anymore. I'm worried that if I ask them to this, they'll hate me, I don't know what to do, and I don't think I am as good at this whole thing as Robb or my father would have been. I'm scared Marge, I'm scared that I'm doing everything wrong and that you and my family will suffer because of it." Edwyn said hurriedly unable to stop himself.

He felt Margery's hand on his chin, and allowed her to tilt his head so he was looking at her, "Look at me my love." He heard her say, and so Edwyn turned round completely so he was face to face with her. "You are doing the right thing by asking your men to march to the Wall with you. Even if the foes there are actually wildlings and not White Walkers, it still your duty as King and as a man with a family to defend the north from whatever threatens it and I am sure, judging from what you have told me of them your brother and lord father would have done the same thing. But I can tell that is not the only think bothering you, what else is?" Margaery asked.

Edwyn hesitated, he didn't know whether or not to tell Margaery about all of his fears or not, he didn't know whether or not to lie or not, but he decided against lying if she wanted to know everything that was bothering him, he would have to tell her everything, his father had always told him that it was wrong to lie. So taking a deep breath, Edwyn began "I'm worried over this Targaryen in Storm's End, and what it means for us."

Margaery looked at him non plussed and asked "What do you mean what it means for us my love? You are king of the north and the trident, should Aegon Targaryen succeed in conquering King's Landing and crowning himself, he will have to come to you to get an alliance not the other way around. Why should you be concerned with him?"

Edwyn sighed, how to get her to understand without offending her "It's not that I'm worried about Marge, I'm worried that your father may try and gain some sort of benefit from the alliance and..." He stopped concerned he had done the damage, and was surprised when he heard Margaery laugh.

"Oh Edwyn, you fool. My father won't try and get our marriage annulled and get me to marry Aegon as part of the alliance, he won't be able to anyway." Margaery replied.

Edwyn breathed a sigh of relief but then asked "What do you mean he won't be able to anyway?"

Margaery smiled at him then, a smile so full of love he was surprised his heart hadn't burst yet and he thought that he might know what was coming next "He won't be able to because our marriage has been consummated many a time Ed, both of our own desires and because Ed I'm with child. You're going to be a father."

Edwyn was gobsmacked, he knew that they had lied together many times since their marriage in an attempt to get an heir but more because they both seemed to enjoy it so much, but he never thought that she would actually be with child! "How, how long have you known?" He managed to stammer out.

"Oh well I haven't had my moon's blood since we left Riverrun Ed, so for about two moons now. Plus the morning sickness has gotten worse." Margaery said a smile on her face.

Edwyn finally broke out of his stunned reverie and swooped Margaery up into his arms and kissed her lips, her nose, her face, he kissed her everywhere all the while feeling his love for his wife grow, and he was going to be a father!

**Storm's End**

Willas dismounted from his horse Gardener and tried to hide a grimace of pain for his leg, and went to the wheelhouse to help Sansa get out, they had been travelling for a month and a half from Highgarden ever since they had received word of the fall of Storm's End, and Willas's father had decided to switch sides once again, this time allying with the Targaryens and had sent Willas, a heavily pregnant Sansa, Garlan and Leonnette of to Storm's End to treat with the boy calling himself Aegon Targaryen. Along the way they had stopped off at several inns and had learned that Aegon had somehow managed to win the Stormlords allegiance, allegedly by promising one of the Stormlords that their son could marry Shireen Baratheon and become the Lord of Storm's End. Willas did have to admit that if that were true, then Aegon was either a very smart lad or he had very clever advisors.

Willas was taken out of his reverie by the sound of Sansa whispering into his ear "Look at the steps my lord." Looking to the steps, Willas breathed deeply, for there on the steps were three men, on the left hand side was Willas's old friend Prince Oberyn Martell and on the right hand side was a tall and muscular man with what looked like greying ginger hair, whom Willas could only assume was the infamous Lord Connington, which would mean that the gangly youth with the almost silver hair who has making his way towards them now would be the man calling himself Prince Aegon Targaryen.

"Ah my lords and ladies of Tyrell, how nice to finally meet you." Willas heard the man whom he thought to be Prince Aegon say.

Willas replied "As it is to meet you as well your grace. I hope you can forgive us for arriving so late to pledge our fealty, we were delayed by snow storms."

"Of course, of course. I can't be mad at my newest ally can I now my lord? Do follow me, I'll have some of the servants show you to your chambers. You must be feeling awfully tired after your journey here. We can speak about all the politics after you are feeling more refreshed." Aegon replied with a voice filled with deceptive calm and cheerfulness.

Willas himself felt absolutely shattered, but he didn't wish to admit that in front of Prince Aegon, in fact he was rather glad that the prince had had the decency to offer them the chance to rest first, so that he could take care of Sansa. He knew that she would probably protest and says she was fine, but Willas cared too much about her to let her protests be listened to.

As Willas followed Prince Aegon into Storm's End, he found himself walking with Sansa on his left side and Prince Oberyn on his right side, and was just about to greet his old friend when Prince Oberyn leaned into him and whispered into his ear "I need to speak with you. I shall come to your chambers in thirty minutes. Be ready." Willas was about to form a response when Oberyn continued walking on past Willas, leaving Willas wondering what it was that Oberyn could wish to speak to him about that could not wait until after dinner.

**Lys**

Danaerys looked over the map of the Seven Kingdoms that her husband- it still felt strange to say that word again- had given her and sighed. They had just received news that a man calling himself Aegon Targaryen had taken the Stormlands and had captured Storm's End. Danaerys did not know what to think about this news. She wondered whether the man calling himself her nephew, and if so then how had he managed to survive the sack of King's Landing and why had she not heard of his existence before now? She wondered whether or not Illyrio knew about this Aegon Targaryen and began to suspect that he must do, and in fact Danaerys was beginning to wonder if the fat Pentoshi cheese monger had been playing of different sides for as long as Danaerys and her brother had been living in exile.

Danaerys also remembered her thoughts back in Meeren that if Aegon was alive, they probably would have married, and now having received word of his supposed survival and landing in Westeros Danaerys could not help but wonder if perhaps the gods were playing some cruel trick on her, to give her news of her nephew's supposed survival, when to get the passage to Westeros that she had always craved she had had to marry a man as despicable as Euron Greyjoy, much to the ire of Ser Barristan, and to make matters worse Danaerys had learnt just that morning that she was with child.

This fact along with Quaithe's warning about the "mummer's dragon" made her highly doubtful that the man calling himself Aegon Targaryen was actually her nephew, and perhaps more likely to be a pretender, one of the many she would have to deal with once she landed in Westeros. But first of all they would need to go to Tyrosh to establish a more solid base for which to plan the invasion for her husband claimed to have contacts in the city that could help them, Ser Barristan had strongly advised against going to Tyrosh saying that the journey there would be unnecessary and would take up too much time that could be better spent landing in Westeros now whilst it was still winter and the situation could still be turned to their advantage, he had also argued that by going to Tyrosh, Danaerys would be creating the wrong impression to the people of Westeros, the people she meant to rule, as Tyrosh was the city where all the Blackfyre Pretenders up to Maelys the Monstrous had launched their invasion of the Seven Kingdoms from and that had only brought about more death and destruction for Westeros. But Danaerys was beginning to suspect that perhaps one of the reasons Ser Barristan was urging her to sail straight for Westeros was because of "Aegon's" presence there, and Danaerys suspected that perhaps Ser Barristan was beginning to feel uncomfortable in her presence if Aegon truly was alive, as he would then have the better claim than her and would therefore be the rightful king something that would most likely spur Ser Barristan into finding him and "fulfilling" his Kingsguard vows, Danaerys though would not let him go without showing him the true meaning of the words Fire and Blood.

* * *

**The Wall**

Jon cut his way through wight after wight, Longclaw seemingly singing with each swish that Jon made, his sword was bloody, and the snow on the ground was covered with red and blue, the colours of blood of fallen wildlings and black brothers, as well as the pus that seemed to come from the wights when they were felled.

This attack had happened suddenly in the middle of the night; Jon himself had been tossing and turning in his bed unable to go to sleep, with the words that Melisandre had said to him upon hearing of Stannis Baratheon's death. Her subsequent disappearance with Shireen Baratheon, had caused Lady Selyse and the Queen's men to spend their whole time holed up in Hardin's Tower for two months now, Shireen's reappearance at the Nightfort had come as a relief, but concerns over how she had come to be there had worried Jon for a week now, and Shireen herself had no recollection of leaving the Wall nor coming back, it seemed as if to her the last two months had not happened at all. Melisandre was still absent but that was not Jon's primary concern anymore, the Wall was not safe enough for Selyse or Shireen to be at, and Jon had tried very hard to make Lady Selyse see that but she had refused to leave until Shireen had said something very frightening that had spurred Selyse and all of her men to get up and flee to Winterfell earlier in the day.

Jon was brought back to reality when he felt a deep cut being etched into his skin, he fell to his knees to snow that was falling obscured his view of his attacker so he knew not whether it be foe or friend who had struck him. As the world began to turn black, Jon could have sworn he heard the sound of a horn blast echoing in the distance.


	25. Chapter 25

**Storm's End**

Willas Tyrell entered the room where he and Sansa would be staying during their time at Storm's End, and tried to clear his mind of any nagging worries about why Oberyn would wish to speak to him so soon after they had arrived. He wondered what could be so urgent that his friend the unflappable Red Viper would be asking to speak with him, the crippled heir of Highgarden as soon as possible. Willas was taken away from his dark thoughts with the feeling of a hand on his arm, looking down he saw Sansa's eyes looking at him with a concerned look to them.

"Are you ok my love?" He heard Sansa ask.

"Yes love, sorry I was just thinking about why Prince Oberyn would wish to speak to me so soon after our arrival. Sorry if my brooding was worrying you." Willas replied.

Sansa gave him a tired smile and said "No harm done my love. Whatever it is that Prince Oberyn wishes to speak to you about, I'm sure we will find out soon. Come to bed?"

Willas was sorely tempted to follow Sansa to bed, to rest his leg which had been pounding with pain since they had left Highgarden, but he didn't wish to fall asleep before he had had the chance to speak with Oberyn and see what it was that had his friend so uptight. But looking at the way Sansa's hair fell down her face in loose braids and how she glowed, how she had been glowing since her pregnancy had grown Willas found himself acquiescing to her and saying "Ok but just for a few minutes. I can't have Oberyn coming to look for me and be fast asleep." So Willas followed Sansa to the bed and soon found himself wrapping a protective arm around Sansa and their unborn child, before closing his eyes and drifting off in to a much needed sleep.

What felt like only a few minutes later, Willas was startled awake by the sound of heavy knocking on the door to their room, lifting his head up from the pillow Willas snuck a quick peek at the window and saw that the sun had set and that it was most likely evening, he was about to wake Sansa up to inform her but the knocking at the door had become quite frantic now, Willas got up from the bed grumbling and grabbed his cane and walked toward the door. Opening it up just a crack, Willas found himself looking at Prince Oberyn's face, he had to bite back a gasp of surprise, but managed to hiss "Oberyn, what are you doing here? Its late, what time is it?"

Oberyn smirked at Willas before answering "Why my friend such a poor greeting. But if you must know dinner finished just an hour back, you and your wife's absence from the hall was noted by my nephew and his erstwhile hand. I trust all is well?"

Willas replied "Yes Oberyn all is well; we were just tired is all. You say dinner was an hour back, were my brother and his lady wife there?"

Oberyn merely nodded before saying "That is not the reason I came to speak with you though. Before you left with your wife I said that I wished to speak with you. Well if you would follow me, we need to speak." Willas looked over his shoulder to Sansa who was still fast asleep on the bed before following Oberyn out of the room, closing the door as softly as he could behind him, and was surprised to find himself walking toward the Lord's Solar where Renly had once spoken with himself and Garlan, one day many years ago.

As they entered the solar, Willas was surprised to note that Lord Connington, Prince Aegon's hand was also in the room as was a small slightly hunched balding man, who looked to be around Willas's father's age. Willas was about to ask what was going on when Oberyn pressed a finger to his lips and gestured for Willas to sit down in one of the chairs near the main table in the solar.

Willas did as he was asked and noted how Lord Connington visibly relaxed once he was seated before speaking "Lord Willas, Prince Oberyn thank you for joining us here. What I am about to say must remain in this room no one else can know. Not the prince nor the princess, no one can know. For what I am about to tell you is of grave importance and could decide whether or not the Prince ends up sitting on the Iron Throne at the end of this war." Connington continued "I have received news from my sources in the capital that the Lannister whore has asked for Gregor Clegane and his men to return to King's Landing to shore up the defences, and that she has also placed casks of Wildfire within the city and is most likely trying to persuade the Vale to finally join the war. However, that is not the most pressing of our concerns. My friend here (Connington indicated the small hunched man who was sitting in the corner) has word that Danaerys Targaryen has landed in Lys alongside Euron Greyjoy and the Iron Fleet, word is that she is planning on landing in Westeros and may plan an invasion on the main land either from attacking the Westerlands or going straight for the capital. This would not be so much of a problem if she were not with child, the Crow's Eyes child. Meaning that the man will not rest till all other contenders are dead."

Willas was shocked he had not expecting to hear this piece of news, if the Crow's Eye was married to Danaerys Targaryen then, there was a very severe risk that the seven kingdoms could be plunged into an even greater war than they currently were, especially with Danaerys' dragons and her unsullied, the kingdoms would bleed and at the end of it all no one really knew what the best outcome would be.

Prince Oberyn was the first to break the silence asking "And what is it you wish for us to do, Lord Connington?"

Lord Connington sighed and said "Marshal your men from the Prince's Pass and from the Reach, the Golden Company is ready to march already, the Stormlords will fight for us for the promise of one of their own becoming Lord of Storm's End, we need to march on King's Landing and take it before Danaerys Targaryen sails from Lys."

"What do we do when she finally sets sail from Lys as she will do once she hears about King's Landing falling?" Willas asked.

Lord Connington gave Willas a grim smile and said "She won't make it from Lys."

**The Vale**

Three weeks after Harry the heir went on his hunting trip, his body was discovered by the mountain clans stashed away in a cave in the Mountains of the Moon. His body was found with severe gashes in it making it look like he had been attacked by a deer or even a boar whilst out hunting. His two companions Lothor and Desmond Brune both told Lord Baelish the Lord Protector of the Vale that Harry had been drinking during the hunt, and had drunken lunged after an animal that they had been unable to clearly see because of the snow that had been falling, Harry had fallen of off his horse and had been severly gouged by the said animal. When asked why they had not immediately gone to find help both Brunes replied that they had not been with Harry when he had fallen off of his horse as he had sent them on to get some fire to light their way back home, and had been unable to find him after hours of searching, and had thus decided to return back to the Gates of the Moon as they believed that Harry would have returned there. The Lords Declarant lead by Lord Corbray believed the tale told by Lothor and Desmond Brune, and accepted Lord Baelish's request that Lord Robert's younger half sibling be made his heir, the other half of the Lords Declarant led by Lord Bronze Yohn Royce openly rejected the Brunes statement and began a subtle inquiry into the exact nature of Harry the Heir's death and any possible reason for him to go out on a hunting trip in the middle of Winter.

The Lords of the Vale were now thoroughly divided and Lord Baelish had started the next move in his grand plan of chaos, he had sent a emissary to Lys to treat with Danaerys Targaryen, in exchange for the fealty of the Vale Danaerys would give Lord Baelish exactly what he wanted, Sansa Stark.

**King's Landing**

"So you are saying that you do not know where your brothers and their wives are, and you have no idea why your grandmother would marry your sister off to a traitor to the Iron Throne?" Cersei Lannister asked from her gilded chair just in front of the Iron Throne in front of half the court.

"No your grace, I do not know, and as I have told yourself and Maester Qyburn when he asked me the same questions, as a knight of the Kingsguard I am loyal only to his grace King Tommem Baratheon, the first of his name. I know not of my family's reasons for their actions your grace." Ser Loras Tyrell replied.

Varys could tell that Cersei was not convinced but that she did not have enough reason to justify having Ser Loras thrown into the black cells, like she wanted to without risking the open ire of Highgarden. For much like the North the Reach would not react well to one of their own being accused of treason, and with winter here and the Lannister forces nonexistent apart from 200 or so men being led by Gregor Clegane back to the capital, the Iron Throne had no strength to fight an open war with Highgarden. Varys of course knew that the Tyrells were already riding to Storm's End to pledge their fealty to Aegon, which would given the prince enough men to easily take the capital and remove the Lannisters from power once and for all.

"Even so, we have reason to believe that you are or were aware of a plot to remove a member of the small council to increase your father's power in the capital and for that act we are removing you of your white cloak and demanding that you return to Highgarden as soon as possible." Cersei Lannister said.

Varys kept his face neutral but internally he was very, very smug, the plot that Cersei spoke of was a fabrication of his, there was no such plot but it was in Varys' interests to play on Cersei's growing paranoia and to increase the enmity between the Iron Throne and the Reach so that they would feel more comfortable when the time came to go to war.

Now there was only Pycelle and Littlefinger to worry about.

**Bravos**

A rather fat man who was a rather successful cheesemonger had just gotten off of a ship from Pentos and was making his way through the streets of Bravos, all the while discreetly looking over his shoulder to make sure that he was not being followed by any mockingbirds. Once he reached his desired location he knocked on the front door, and waited for the slit at the top of the door to open and when it did he said as quietly as possible "Valar Morghulis." To which the pair of eyes looking at him through the slit in the door replied "Valar Dohaeris, " and opened the big iron door, allowing the fat cheesemonger to enter.

As the cheesemonger walked through the door he made the ancient Essos sign to ward of evil and then continued walking through the hallways of the building until he came to stand in front of the statue of the many faced god, he stood in front of the statue for a few moments before he heard a man say to him "A man needs a name."

To which he replied "Danaerys Targaryen."


	26. Chapter 26

**One Month Later**

**Winterfell**

Winterfell, was big and imposing, Winterfell smelt of home and promises made and kept, Winterfell was a sight that Edwyn Stark, King in the North and the Trident had thought that he may never have seen again, but here he was back home with his mother, his wife, his sister and his brother all sat down on the floor of his mother's room reminiscing of times gone by. They had arrived in Winterfell earlier that day, the whole northern contingent that Edwyn had brought with him from the Twins had ridden to Winterfell with him and as soon as he had ridden through the gates and dismounted from his horse he was met by a flying ball of auburn hair and blue/ grey eyes that crashed into his chest and hugged him, his baby brother Rickon it appeared was very, very happy to see him. And it seemed that Rickon was very, very happy to see their mother and sister as well, although he did not quite remember Arya, Edwyn was happy to note that he didn't hesitate to fly into their mother's arms. Many tears were shed then, and Edwyn had had to hold tightly onto Margaery's hand to stop him from crying as well, he was after all the king and, king's don't cry. After that initial reunion in the courtyard of Winterfell, Edwyn had introduced his wife to Rickon as well as to the people of Winterfell and had also received an update from Ser Rodrik about how things were progressing in Winterfell and the North in general.

Edwyn listened as Rickon recounted all that he had done in the past few months to the room at large and laughed along with his mother, wife and sister at some of the things that Rickon said, but he couldn't help shake the overbearing feeling of loss that seemed to emanate through the room, looking around at his mother he knew she felt it too, though they were finally back in Winterfell the whole family was not, Father and Robb were both dead, their bones had been finally laid to rest in the crypts of Winterfell in the early afternoon, Sansa was still south and in the Reach with her husband, and Bran well Edwyn knew not where Bran was, but he would find him, even if it killed him. He was taken out of his thoughts by a knock on the door, calling for whoever it was to enter, he found himself looking at Lady Brienne his mother's sworn sword who had been stationed outside the room to guard it, telling him that he had asked to be told when Maester Luwin was ready to see him. Reluctantly getting up off the floor, Edwyn looked back at his family before thanking Brienne and walking past her and out the room and made his way to the Lord's Solar. Upon entering he found Maester Luwin, Ser Rodrik, the Greatjon, Harrion Karstark, Howland Reed, Cley Cerwyn, Galbert Glover, Wylis Manderly, Rodrik Ryswell, Leobald Tallhart, Lords Flint, Wull and Norrey and Arthor Karstark all seated and waiting for him to enter, they stood when he entered and after he told them to take a seat, waited for the general noise to settle down before he began speaking.

"My Lords, I would thank you for your ever loyal service to House Stark and the north during this war, the North will always remember what you have done for it and its people. We shall always remember those who were lost to us during the war and we shall remember them and honour them for the rest of our days. I know that you all wish to return to your homes and your families now that winter has set in, but there is one thing that we shall have to do before we can earnestly justify resting. Maester Luwin if you would be so kind as to read the letters that you have received." Edwyn said.

"Of course your grace. Three ravens came to Winterfell containing some very interesting news whilst you were away. The first comes from Lord Edmure at Riverrun, he states how a company of some 200 men led by Gregor Clegane were seen marching through the Riverlands on their way to King's Landing to help shore up its defences, whilst the party did not do any further damage to the Riverlands, their manner seemed to indicate at least to the Riverlords that there may be further fighting in the south at some point though as to why that may be Lord Edmure was not entirely sure. The Second letter came from the Lady Sansa, she details how the Reach, Dorne and the Stormlands have all declared for Aegon Targaryen, and how their forces shall be marching on King's Landing very soon. She also writes that she is expecting her first child with Lord Willas very shortly. The third letter came from the Wall and contains some very concerning news. It appears that Lord Commander Jon Sow was grievously injured whilst fighting forces that have only been seen in stories and legends; it appears my lords that the White Walkers have returned. Maester Clydas the current Maester at Castle Black wrote these words and begs for most urgent aid." Maester Luwin said.

After he had finished speaking, the lords in the solar all burst out saying what they thought they should do, a few including Arthor Karstark and Lord Ryswell were all in favour for marching back south again and destroying the Lannisters once and for all. A few other lords such as Lord Umber and Lord Glover were in favour of marching north to the Wall to aid the Night's Watch. Edwyn listened to their discussions in silence and observed all of the lords in front of him, ever since he had received that letter at the Twins; Edwyn had been keeping a very close eye on his lords waiting for any sense of betrayal or deceit. He knew that Lord Ryswell's daughter Lady Dustin had been about to ally with Roose Bolton before the battle of the Barrowlands, but he also suspected that Arthor Karstark had ulterior motives for suggesting they march south again, after all Edwyn had had to kill Cregan Karstark during the battle of the Barrowlands himself.

Eventually Edwyn spoke clearly through the thrum of noise that had emerged and said "My lords it is all well and good saying that we must march south again, or we must march north, or that we must march west and crush the Ironborn. Winter is here, and will be here for many years now; we have fought in the South for two years now, and lost many, many good men. The Riverlands are safe now the Lannisters are a spent force, and if this Targaryen prince wishes to invade the Riverlands he will not be able to, due to the climate that winter will impose on the region. If he wishes for an alliance he can have it but no, now we are of the north and our duty lies to our realm, the houses of the north have always traditionally aided the Night's Watch during times of trouble, we shall do so again. We shall march to the wall in five days time, have your men ready my lords, we have legends to kill."

**Lys**

Ser Barristan Selmy watched in painful silence as his Queen questioned the faceless man about why he had been sent to kill her and her unborn babe, and who had sent her. The man had tried to sneak up on Queen Danaerys during one of her naps but had been apprehended by Barristan himself when he had heard a slight creaking noise. Now the faceless man was severly injured with cuts all along his body and his face and arms and legs, from the use of swords and whips by the Ironborn that Euron Greyjoy had decided to use to get the man to talk. The man had remained deadly silent throughout all of his punishment it was almost as if he could not feel the pain, or a treacherous voice inside Barristan's head said perhaps he has felt the pain but has died to it, just like Lord Rickard did, the daughter is no different to the father, Barristan tried to shake those thoughts away but they would not go, they had not gone since the sacking of Tolos, Barristan had seen the city burn, and had felt ill at ease, Danaerys had gone from being a very promising Queen to being almost as mad if not more so then her father or even some of her ancestors had been, and that deeply worried Barristan, and he did not know where the madness had come from, was it from the dragons or was it from her marriage to the Crow's Eye and the child she carried.

Barristan was taken out of his reverie when he heard the faceless man eventually say in a choked whisper his voice full of blood "I...I... came from Bravos... a man was given a name... a man was paid... by a cheesemonger... from Pentos."

Barristan had little time to process the words that the faceless man had said before he watched him be engulfed by dragon fire, turning toward Danaerys he saw that she had a mad glint in her eye and her voice seemed to be thick with arousal when she said out loud "You have heard the man, we sail for Pentos, we shall burn it to the ground then head for Westeros. Ser Barristan tell Lord Baelish's emissary that I agree to his terms, we sail for the Vale after Pentos."

**King's Landing**

Fire and blood, those were his house words, and they had never seemed more real to Aegon Targaryen then at this precise moment. The battle of King's Landing was raging all around him, and he felt terrified. After securing the allegiance of the Reach, Aegon had devised a plan that essentially meant that along with the ships belonging to the golden company, the fleet of the reach captained by Paxter Redwyne would sail from Storm's End and land on the shores of the capital in the dead of night. So far the plan seemed to be working, the 200 Lannister men that had been on guard just outside of the city gates were either dead or dying, Aegon knew that his uncle Oberyn had personally killed Gregor Clegane. After the initial surprise the city gold cloaks had come out in full force all 3000 of them, but by that point Aegon and his men had broken through four of the city's gates and were storming their way up to the Red Keep, victory was close, so very, very close.

Aegon plunged Blackfyre, his family's ancestral sword through the heart of another gold cloak and moved onto the next man in his way, it seemed to be a knight of the false king's Kingsguard, soon the clashing of steel on steel could be heard as Aegon danced with the white knight, getting cuts and parries onto the man, before eventually twisting and plunging his sword through the man's plate mail piercing his chest. Aegon moved on and found himself face to face with yet another white knight, the same dance ensued and Aegon again emerged victorious, turning around he saw Rolly kill yet another white knight, he saw Jon kill a red cloak, he saw Loras Tyrell kill a red cloak. Aegon advanced through the halls of the Red Keep getting ever closer to the throne room and victory and found his path blocked by another white knight, this time Aegon was faced with a slightly more challenging dance with both men cutting and parrying each other and striking dents into each other's armour, but Aegon used his superior strength to overpower the man and cleave him in two, before advancing further toward the Throne Room he shouted to one of the men "Find Tommem Waters, and bring him to me in the throne room alive, he is to be kept alive."

Aegon could feel the nervous adrenaline flowing through his veins as he burst through the throne room, and found it completely deserted he advanced slowly toward the Iron Throne his throne, with his sword still raised in case of a sudden attack when none seemed forthcoming he lowered Blackfyre slowly and walked up the steps of the Iron Throne, and stood and looked around the throne room, the room where his ancestors had ruled all of Westeros from, and as he sat down on the throne he felt a sense of triumph wash over him, he had done it.


	27. Chapter 27

**Winterfell**

It had been four days since Edwyn and the northern party had arrived back in Winterfell and with one day left till Edwyn and 5000 northerners would march north to help the Night's Watch fight against a legendary foe. Time had gone far too quickly for Edwyn since he had returned home, what with having to have meetings with his bannermen to discuss strategy and battle plans as well as trying to fit in as much time as he possibly could with his wife and younger siblings Edwyn found himself near exhaustion and so had decided to pay a little visit to the crypts to see the tombs of his father and brother. As he looked at the statues of his father and brother he couldn't help but notice that perhaps the stone mason had done a much better job at carving their likeness than he had first thought, the burial service had been a short one but all in Winterfell had attended it to remember Lord Eddard a man who symbolised northern values and was seen as a king amongst his people and to remember King Robb the Young Wolf the man who died fighting for his family and for his people. Edwyn stood in front of their statues and wondered what they would be thinking now, if they were watching over him and their family. He wondered if they would feel proud of the decisions he had made and was about to make, he wondered whether they would do anything differently, he had so many questions he wanted to ask them but he found that he could only ask them in his head, for to ask them out loud may create the fear that he was going mad. He wondered if Robb would have approved of Edwyn's decision to marry Jeyne to Perwyn, or if he would have preferred if his lady love had married his twin, from what he had learnt through the ravens Perwyn had sent it appeared Jeyne was enjoying life at the Twins and that they were expecting their first child within four moons, Edwyn was happy for them and also slightly relieved for it meant that Perwyn's hold on the Twins was more secure.

Edwyn continued staring at his father and brother's statues and found his thoughts drifting to the last time he had seen their faces. He had last seen his father's face the day Lord Eddard had ridden south with King Robert, there had been summer snows in the air that day and for Edwyn it had felt like his family was being torn in two, Sansa and Arya had ridden south with their father whilst Jon had ridden north to the wall. The last words Edwyn's father had ever said to him had been an admonishment to keep Robb, their mother, Bran and Rickon safe, Edwyn had managed so far to keep mother and Rickon safe but had not been able to find Bran and had not been there when Robb had been betrayed, his nightmares since coming back from the Riverlands had lessened considerably mainly thanks to Margaery's soothing presence in bed but also because Edwyn was beginning to compartmentalize all the horrors he had seen into a separate place in his mind to be dealt with much later, after all he was king now and had two kingdoms to worry about. His last memories with Robb were much more painful for Edwyn to relieve and as such he tried to avoid thinking about them too much, being there with Robb as they learnt of their lord father's death, the pain and agony of feeling the same hurt as his twin, the worry and nerves as they fought at the Whispering Wood, hugging Robb goodbye as he marched north and promising to meet up with him again, only to learn some months later that Robb had been betrayed by Lord Walder and Roose Bolton for the crime of falling in love. Those were memories that Edwyn had no wish to relieve again, and as such had made a solemn vow to himself that if he survived the battle at the Wall his children and his family would never again experience such hardships as they had in the last few years, never again would some southerner tell them what to do and when to do it, never again.

Edwyn's musings were interrupted when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, turning round he found himself looking at his wife Margaery, to Edwyn pregnancy had only made her look more divine she looked like some sort of goddess come for him and only him. She had a wry smile on her face as she said "I was looking for you your grace, and Ser Rodrik said that you had come down here, the meeting is about to start." Ah of course the meeting, Edwyn had decided to hold one final big meeting in the great hall of Winterfell before the army marched north, during this meeting he wished to discuss where some of the men would be going, as well as deal with some succession issues as well as announce some appointments to his council.

Giving Margaery a weary smile he said "Yes, yes of course. Come then let us go and listen to grown men argue like little children then." Giving her his arm, Edwyn led them out of the crypts and toward the great hall they walked in a comfortable silence, knowing that this would be one of the last major things Edwyn would have to do all day before he would be free to spend the rest of the day with his family before he left on the morrow. As they listened to one of the servants announce them, Edwyn felt Margaery give his hand a quick squeeze before they walked through the big oak doors and into the great hall of Winterfell, Edwyn saw how all the men in the hall were standing and still felt surprised that they were standing for him their king, it was still a surreal experience. As Edwyn walked up the steps to the Weirwood throne and helped Margaery sit down in her throne next to him, he signalled for the men to sit down before he himself sat down. Once the noise had settled down Edwyn took a deep breath before speaking " My Lords and Ladies, I thank you for coming to the hall today for this council meeting. This shall be our last one before we march north to the Wall. As such there are several key issues that I feel need to be discussed before we can all prepare for the march tomorrow. These issues include who shall be going where once we march to the wall, issues of succession particularly in relation to House Hornwood as well as what will happen in relation to Lady Bolton." Edwyn paused the mention of Lady Bolton had stirred up some angry muttering amongst the gathered assembly, Edwyn knew that after the Red Wedding and Roose Bolton's attempted treachery no northerner really respected House Bolton, and the fact that Fat Walda was also a Frey made things much worse. Once the muttering had subsided Edwyn spoke again. "As you all know we shall be marching north to the Wall with 5000 men, once we have reached Castle Black the force of men will be divided under different commanders. 1500 men will march under the leadership of Lords Umber and Karstark, 1500 men shall march under the leadership of Lords Ryswell and Cerwyn and 2000 men shall march under My leadership. Any problems with this please speak now." There were no problems as the hall remained silent in apparent acceptance of these terms. Edwyn continued "Now we shall be working with the men of the Night's Watch to ensure that our plans are effective and work properly, I expect full co-operation between us and them, if anyone impedes on the success of the mission or becomes a nuisance they shall answer to me." This was met by silence, Edwyn went on "Now onto the succession issues: Since the War started many of our houses have face succession crises none more so than House Hornwood. With Lord Halys Hornwood and Daryn Hornwood's deaths the ladyship passed to Donella Hornwood, however, we of course know that the Bastard of Bolton forcibly married her and then starved her to death leaving only Halys bastard son Lawrence left of the immediate Hornwood line. However, since Lawrence had taken ill when the Ironborn invaded and has yet to recover I have decided to name Beren Tallhart the new lord of Hornwood, from this day forth he shall be known as Beren Hornwood and any children he has from this day forth shall be known as Hornwoods. Lady Eddara shall remain Lady of Torrhen's Square. With this in mind the issue of the Dreadfort, of course whilst Roose Bolton and Ramsay Snow were traitors to the North it seems less wise to me to demand Lady Bolton or her unborn child's death; they were not responsible for the two men's follies. Instead it has been decided that Lady Bolton shall come and stay at Winterfell for the duration of her pregnancy and till her child comes of age at which point they shall become Lord or Lady of the Dreadfort." Edwyn took a breath and felt Margaery squeeze his hand to let him know he was doing okay, he continued "Now as king it is prudent that I have a set of advisors whom I can trust to put the interests of the north above all else, and as such I have come up with Two names so far : Wyman Manderly shall be in charge of shipping and trade and Lord Umber shall be in charge of ensuring the people stay in line. I have written to Lord Manderly and have asked him to begin building a royal fleet, Ser Wylis if you could double check that your father receives our raven. That is all." Edwyn stopped and waited to see if anyone would speak when no one did, he nodded to Ser Rodrik who opened the doors and then signalled for the assembled people to exit the hall, turning to Margaery he smiled at her and then kissed her quickly on the cheek before rising and leading her to the exit.

**King's Landing**

Aegon Targaryen sixth of his name King of the Andals and the First men, King of the Seven Kingdoms and Lord Protector of the realm sat on the Iron Throne and listened to petitioners, who all seemed to want something from him. His coronation was due to be in a week's time but until then Aegon had decided with the approval of his small council to begin listening to what the people wanted and how he could help them get what they wanted. Most people be they his age or older would have found doing such a job boring and tiresome but ever since he had been old enough to understand just who he was Aegon had been taught that being king was a duty not a right, and if that duty included listening to people moan when he would rather be doing something else- such as fucking Arianne- then he would just have to do it to the best of his abilities. It helped he supposed that he had been taught how to navigate through the pool of court petitioners from an early age, and that he also surprisingly enjoyed helping and listening to people. The one thing that he had learnt since conquering King's Landing was that though they may have craved and achieved a lot of power over the years the Lannisters truly were terrible at managing it, the kingdom was in a state of disarray so much so that when Aegon had ordered Cersei Lannister's execution for regicide the people had become a blood thirsty mass on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor, they had even cried for Tommem Waters- Now Lannister- to be executed but Aegon had refused to allow that to happen Tommem was just a little boy who had had no idea what his parents had been doing or plotting, and so had been allowed to live as a ward of the throne till he turned sixteen. Aegon still had gaps in his small council and Kingsguard to fill, he had named Ser Rolly Duckfield as his Lord Commander, had included Ser Loras Tyrell for his efforts in storming the Red Keep and had also name Ser Daemon Sand to the white cloak for his valor in the battle killing Ser Meryn Trant and Ser Balon Swann. Ser Arys had upon the advice of Arianne been pardoned and was being summoned to the capital to renew his oath of fealty to Aegon. They only had to deal with the Vale, the Riverlands and the North now before they could turn their attention to Danaerys across the narrow sea.

**Somewhere beyond the Wall**

_Darkness ruled here, always black always dark, no light had been seen in these lands for millennia ever since the last hero had cast his spell. The darkness was spreading though, it had already taken control of most of the lands north of the wall taking the wildlings with it, and making them into an undead army of thousands enough to challenge and even overwhelm the land of the living and man. They only needed the horn and then they would have what they needed, the horn that they had given to one with the patch and evil in his heart, the horn that would bind the girl to their cause, the horn that would wake their god from his slumber. They needed the horn and they needed it soon._

_"Come." The voices whispered "Come, fulfil your destiny. Come child of our creation come."_

_The voices grew louder and more insistent. They would be heard their voices for so long silenced would be heard again. _

_Across the narrow sea in a ship called the Silence, a man with a patch and evil in heart heard the voices and mouthed the words of an ancient pact written in blood and sealed with tears. "It shall be done."_


	28. Chapter 28

**Four Months Later**

**Frostfangs**

Snow lay on the ground like a thick blanket and continued to fall even during the late hours of the night. Because of the snow and the cold weather the ranging party had had to set up camp on the edge of the Frostfangs much earlier than they would have liked, for the Frostfangs were still home to some very, very unruly and uncooperative Wildlings who would likely find any excuse to come plunging out of their hiding places and kill all who were camped in their homes. The campsite itself was one thing to behold a thousand or more tents littered the snow covered ground with a few fires alight to signal life within the campsite as well as to signal that men were on watch despite the freezing cold weather and the bare visibility, in order to ensure that the men were not subject to a surprise attack in the middle of the night. Warnings could be issued through the fires or by a horn blast, but the horn blast would more than likely attract more white walkers or wights, so it had been decided by the commanders that the fires would be the perfect way to warn those on watch of an upcoming assault.

Inside one of the tents camped out on the Frostfangs, Edwyn Stark King of the North and the Trident slept not peacefully but not fitfully either, for he dreamed of events passed and some yet to come : _On his last day in Winterfell before they had marched north to the wall, he had spent most of the morning in bed with Margaery simply kissing her and making love to her, she had looked so very, very radiant and beautiful that Edwyn had had a hard time keeping his hands of off her, it was perhaps after the fourth time they had made love that morning when Margaery had eventually pulled herself out of his embrace, and she had had the most wicked of smiles when she looked at him and saw his mouth about to form a protestation, she had kissed the protestation away and then had said "You had best come back to me my King, my winter knight. You had best come back to me if you want more. You had best come back to me for our child for your family my love." Edwyn had hurried to promise that he would try his very, very best to come back to her, to their family and had kissed her again until they were both breathless and boneless with pleasure. Eventually they had had to get up and deal with the inevitable fact that he would be riding north for battle once more in a few hours time. The remaining time that he had had in Winterfell had been spent over seeing the loading of wagons for food and such as well as sending of the men who would be marching with him to the wall, Edwyn had wanted to be the last through the gates so that he could have one last moment with his family before he too had to leave. He had picked Rickon up and had spun him around causing his little brother to laugh with glee, before putting him down and telling him that he was the Lord of Winterfell now until Edwyn returned and that it was his duty to ensure that their family was safe, and to ensure that he didn't cause mother or Margaery too many problems. He'd then embraced Arya and made her promise to look out for Rickon and their family and that Brienne would be giving her and Rickon sword fighting lessons when she had time. He'd then said farewell to his mother and had asked her to stay well and healthy and that he would see her when he came back. He'd then asked Brienne to look after his family and ensure nothing bad happened to them. Finally he had kissed Margaery goodbye and had promised that he would do his best to return to her. He had then ridden out of the gates of Winterfell with his men to the wall._

_It had taken them two months to reach Castle Black due to the heavy snow fall on the ground, upon their arrival at the home of the Night's Watch though they were greeted by a depressing sight. The remnants of a battle were evident for all to see, dead bodies lay on the ground with pools of blood staining the snow on the ground red, and fires were everywhere men were burning the dead as quickly as possible when Jon had ridden out to join them, he had been heavily bandaged and had told them how there had been a ferocious battle at Castle Black some three days before their arrival, of how the White Walkers and their thralls the wights had mounted a storming of the Walls and how some of the wights had managed to climb over the walls but of how the White Walkers could not. Jon had gone on to tell Edwyn and his commanders, in the safety of the Lord Commander's solar of how the white walkers were able to use some sort of magic to cause the dead to rise up again as wights, and how the only plausible way to defeat the wights or the White Walkers was through using fire or using dragonglass or dragon or Valyrian Steel. This revelation had been met with several hours of discussion until it was finally decided that the northern forces would be best put to use by splitting them amongst the three main castle of the Night's Watch considering that was where the majority of the White Walker attacks were happening. So it had been agreed that 1500 men would march under the leadership of Lords Umber and Karstark the Shadow Tower whilst 1500 men would march under the leadership of Lords Ryswell and Cerwyn to Eastwatch by Sea the remaining 2000 men would remain under Edwyn's command. After the lords had made their way over to their new holdings, Edwyn and Jon had sat and discussed many things such as events in the rest of Westeros as well the dreams Jon had been having of a dragon with green and bronze scales living deep in the lands of snow and ice, Edwyn had been tempted then to tell Jon who his true parents were, but did not have the heart nor did he think it was his place to tell him. Eventually when it became clear that there were to be no White Walker attacks on Castle Black again, Jon and Edwyn had decided to lead ranging north of the Wall to see if they could defeat the White Walkers before they came south, and perhaps even find out where they came from as well. So off they had march Edwyn, Jon, Lord Howland, Ned Wull, Alysanne Mormont, Rodrik Flint and three thousand men north they had marched, and at their first stop for camping on the Fist of the First Men they had been ambushed by the reanimated corpses of a thousand wildlings, who had managed to kill roughly 500 of their men before eventually being defeated. The burning of the bodies had taken from first light till sunset, and still the fires had been left raging to scare away anymore wights. _

_Edwyn's dreams shifted now, he was in Storm's body now he knew, hunting looking for prey, of which there had been little since the ranging had started some two moons ago. But this time a scent he had picked up, it was not the familiar scent of man, nor the welcome scent of prey, no this was the horrible and dangerous scent of the not dead creatures that now prowled these lands, and it was close dangerously close. He inched closer to the scent and hid behind a bush covered in snow, and whimpered at what he saw thousands upon thousands of wights were marching their slow dreadful march south, and at their head were six of the biggest White Walkers the boy had ever seen riding on the back of giant ice spiders and unicorns. _

In his tent in the Frostfangs, Edwyn Stark shot up awake and sweating, he looked around the tent for one moment before turning to the sleeping figure of his brother- cousin- Jon Snow, nudging him awake, Edwyn turned to Jon and together they said in Unison "They're coming."

**King's Landing**

Aegon Targaryen the Sixth of his Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, King of the Seven Kingdoms and Lord Protector of the Realm was sat in the library of the Red Keep reading. Since the small council meeting had been dismissed for the day, and since his wife had asked if she could spend some time with her uncle and cousins who were visiting, Aegon had decided to spend some time in the biggest library in the Seven Kingdoms par the one kept in the citadel. Ever since he had been a little boy on the Shy Maid Aegon had been a deep reader, it was something that he apparently shared with his father, who had also been a deep reader as a young man. Of course Aegon was also aware that his father had been obsessed with prophecy, and that this unhealthy obsession had brought the seven kingdoms to its knees, but Aegon had no wish to follow in his father's footsteps in that regard for whilst there was as of yet no love between him and Arianne, he was certainly very, very fond of her and of course she was carrying his child so he wished to be there for his child and anymore children that he and Arianne may have, for though Jon and Lemore had been good foster parents, there had been times when Aegon had been younger when he had deeply resented his father for being such a blind foolish idiot to have thrown away everything he had with Aegon's mother, to run away with that Stark girl. Though of course he hardly said this to Jon, for he suspected that the feelings Jon had for his father were not just ones of friendship, he had of course once told Lemore his thoughts about his father when he had been in a very angry mood, and she had simply held him whilst he cried and asked her why his father had been such a fool. Looking back on it now Aegon supposed there was not much Lemore could say to comfort him on that issue for whilst she had been very, very good friends with Aegon's mother she had also been in love with Brandon Stark, the man who had been executed on Aegon's grandfather's orders for simply wanting to save his sister.

Aegon shook his head and brought his attention back to the book he was reading, it was a book that Lord Tyrion had given him for his nameday a few weeks back that he had not yet had the chance to read yet, it was about the Valyrian Freehold and the section he was currently reading was about the ancient Targaryen Fortress Dragonstone. _The Valyrian Freehold had expanded rapidly by the time Dragonstone was raised 500 years before Aegon's Landing. The fortress it is widely believed was raised using the sorcery that had allowed the Valyrians to create their empire and create such imposing structures as the Red Temple in Volantis. One of the most famous aspects of the Fortress is the fact that there are several stone animals that can be found inside the fortress. It is the belief of many that these stone creatures are just that, stone creatures carved into the exact likeness of the animals they are supposed to represent be they dragons or sphinxes. However, there is another train of thought one for which there is sufficient evidence to support it that some of the stone creatures at least the stone dragons were at some point actual living breathing dragons. There is a rumour that the dragons that were used to help create Dragonstone, gave up their mortal existence to help give Dragonstone its shape and creation, for the magic that the Valyrians used often had a price of sacrifice and the dragons used to create Dragonstone had been alive on this earth for many hundreds of years, in fact the big stone dragon whose head can be found in the Room of the Painted Table, and whose tail finished in the great hall of Dragonstone it is rumoured was in fact the great dragon Arydian who had helped raise the first creations of the Freehold in the lands now known as Pentos, Lys, Tyrosh and Qarth some 800 years ago. Arydian was a blue dragon with a wingspan said to be between 100-120 feet wide, and was said to be big enough to swallow giants and mammoths whole. An ancient Maegi Marwyn once prophesised to Daenys the Dreamer that for Arydian or any of the other dragons in Dragonstone to be awoken, one of the Valyrian blood must be present on Dragonstone when Dragonmont begins to erupt, for the blood of the dragon can only awaken a dragon._

Aegon gave a loud gasp as he read that last sentence, they had been receiving reports that Dragonmont was beginning to stir for the first time in 500 years, if what was written here was true then now could be the perfect time for Aegon to get the dragons he so sorely needed especially with Danaerys so close to coming back to Westeros. He knew what he had to do.

**Winterfell**

Margaery Stark, Queen in the North and the Trident read through the ledgers and sighed. Things in Winterfell had been largely peaceful since Edwyn had left with his men four months ago, they had received a raven from Castle Black some two moons ago informing them of Edwyn and his men's arrival at Castle Black and their plans for a great ranging to see if they could learn more about the White Walkers threatening from North of the Wall but since then there had been very little news from the Wall. So in order to prevent herself from worrying about Edwyn, Margaery had plunged herself into doing her duties as Queen in the North this mainly meant looking through the accounts to see if all was in order, ensuring that they had enough food to see them through the winter and also ensuring that the people of the north felt happy. It was quite a lot to do but Margaery felt that she could do it and felt she was doing quite well, it helped she supposed that Lady Catelyn was helping her as well since their first rather tense conversations at Riverrun all those months ago they had become quite friendly with each other, Margaery supposed it helped that both Arya and Rickon had taken to her relatively easily and that she was carrying Edwyn's child as well. She sorely hoped that Edwyn would make it back alive from the Wall for they had received several ravens over the past few months in his absence that had some rather worrying news to bear. One such raven was the face that Aegon Targaryen had taken King's Landing and had been crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms by the High Septon and was asking for fealty from all of the kingdoms so far Dorne, the Stormlands, the Reach and the Westerlands had all pledged Aegon fealty with the north and Riverlands already under Edwyn's control and the Vale remaining surprisingly quiet. The second worrying piece of news that they had received was from Margaery's father who served on Aegon's small council, it appeared Danaerys Targaryen was sailing for Westeros with her dragons, unsullied, sellswords and Ironborn including the Crow's Eye himself. It appeared that when Danaerys did eventually land in Westeros the continent would once again be plagued by war.

**Pentos**

Pentos had been burnt to the ground, the home of Master Illyrio Mopatis had been reduced to ashes and dust, for the simple crime of housing the fat cheesemonger who had drawn the wrath of Danaerys Targaryen. Her dragons had burnt the city but not before the Crow's Eye and his men had brought Mopatis from his home and dragged him in front of Danaerys to confess to his crimes. So here they were with Pentos a smoking ruin in the background, the fat cheesemonger was on his knees before the mother of dragons, who began to speak "Illyrio Mopatis, you are here by charged with treason against your queen. You fed me and my brother Viserys during our travels, and yet we have reason to believe that the whole time you were plotting our deaths so you could let an imposter claim my throne. You also hired a faceless man to kill me, that plot failed and so you shall die. Do you have any last words?"

Mopatis inhaled deeply before saying "I never wished for your death your grace, just your brother's. He was a madman and a fool who would have put years of planning to waste had he been allowed to live. No I did not wish for your death, you were to be Queen, the Queen. The Aegon in King's Landing is the real Aegon Danaerys, your nephew is real. I die not a man free of sin, but a man who has restored normality."

Danaerys angrily said "You kept his existence a secret from me and mine, no I do not believe you. You shall burn for your crimes and then the pretender shall burn for being an usurper." She called forth her dragon Drogon "Dracarys." Illyrio Mopatis's screams could be heard for miles around as the black flames engulfed him; Danaerys turned to her husband and said "We sail for Gulltown."

Danaerys Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, Wife of Iron was returning to Westeros.


	29. Chapter 29

**One Month Later**

**The Lands Of Thenn**

The Wights had come upon them in the dead of the night, their fires had been failing to stay alight for some time, the Wildlings and more superstitious amongst the northmen said that it was a clear sign from the Old Gods that some evil was at work. The air was so cold that a single breath would be clearly visible for many to see, the snow on the ground was red, blood red clearly showing according to Sigorn the new Magnar of Thenn, where the free fold who had not managed to join Mance Rayder's Wildling host in time had been butchered and had died, the imprints of men, women, children and babies visible still in the snow. Their bodies had not been visible but neither had there been the signs of any fires having been lit to burn the bodies, so many assumed that the wildlings of Thenn were roaming the lands as Wights, a belief that was confirmed when the attack began. Three Thousand wights had made their uneasy way down from the Land of Always Winter Edwyn suspected and were being led by two White Walkers, both riding giant ice spiders, a terrifying sight to behold.

The usual trenches and torches of fire seemed to hold back the wights for a while and the few that stumbled blindly into the flames were reduced to ash never to rise again. However, it seemed that the flames did little to hold back the White Walkers and Edwyn watched in horror as they cut down men as seasoned in battle as Tormund Giantsbane and Galbert Glover as if they were little more than flies. It felt like they were giving the men up like lambs to the slaughter, even though this was the strategy they had agreed upon, during the march up from the Frostfangs, sending the foot soldiers with their swords, spears, bows and arrows and flame torches to deal with the wights, Edwyn, Jon, Howland and Mance would stay at the back of the lines and wait for the white walkers to move first. Edwyn felt like a coward as he watched men he had fought alongside during the wars in the south fall to their graves, the ground stained red over and over again. There seemed to be no end in sight for the bloodshed and it seemed dawn was not approaching anytime soon, for Edwyn had noticed that whenever the further north the marched the darker and longer the nights seemed to be, it was as if the sun had forgotten to rise and the night was truly dark and full of terrors.

Eventually Edwyn had had enough of standing around and waiting, and so drawing Nightfall from its sheath he stirred his horse into a gallop closely followed by Jon, Howland, the ever faithful Ned Wull and Rod Flint and began cutting down the wights who had managed to walk through unscathed from the trench fires, it was with some grim satisfaction that Edwyn felt the blueish goo that signalled the death of the Wights on his blade, but he continued swinging Nightfall regardless of the number of wights he cut down, for they were not like any other foe he had ever faced in battle, they did not charge they did not flee, they merely stumbled onward in a mindless daze either to drag a man to his death or to be felled and turned to ashes or goo. The cold and the blizzards that had become much more common the further north they marched made it harder to truly see their foes, but Edwyn had the feeling that they were finally gaining some sort of ground in this never ending struggle with the creatures of the night. All too soon he found himself face to face with one of the dreaded white walkers, the creature was roughly eight feet tall and slender, it looked more like a ghost than anything else and yet when it swung its sword it had the strength of ten giants. It was all Edwyn could do to raise his sword up and hope that the shuddering in his arm was from the force of the blow and not the unnatural cold that seemed to emanate from the creature he was now fighting. Any swing that Edwyn made seemed to be blocked by the White Walker whilst the few swings that Edwyn was able to block were in the minority for the White Walker was able to land far more hits and consequently draw far more blood from Edwyn than any normal foe would be able to. Eventually Edwyn felt himself gradually slipping away into a state of near unconscious largely due to the amount of blood he had lost from the White Walker's swings, Edwyn could feel himself slipping of off his horse, and yet he somehow managed to block the creature's next swing which would surely have been the end of him, and as Edwyn saw his brother Jon and Howland Reed attack the creature from the rear and the side and as he saw the creature be set alight and steadily turn to ash he could have sworn he heard it cry in the common tongue "Joramun, the one is Joramun." But then what would Edwyn know for the next moment he slumped forward in his seat and passed out from blood loss.

**Eastwatch By Sea**

It was cold, it was always bloody cold at Eastwatch whether that was because it was near the sea or because of the cold and the snow Grenn can never tell. He had stopped complaining of the cold long ago, there was never anytime anymore what with the Wights constantly trying to get over the bloomin' wall all the bloomin time, they were constantly on alert and were always trying to make up for the numbers they lacked. Of course it helped that since Jon's brother Edwyn had marched to the Wall Eastwatch had benefitted with an extra 1500 men to help defend it. Of course that meant that there were 1500 more mouths to feed and with the Wall as a whole already low on food and other supplies when the Wights had started their invasion Grenn was not too sure how much longer they could withstand and hold back the wights.

Strangely enough the only time Grenn had actually seen the White Walkers had been on the Fist of the First Men when the ranging party led by Lord Commander Mormont had been ambushed by the Wights and several of the creatures that ruled the night. Since then it had only been one long struggle against Wights, for it appeared that the White Walkers were still unable to cross the Wall, only the Wights could but they were clumsy and could be easily dealt with, if you had enough men on watch and enough fire to pass around. So it was with great surprise that Green heard one of his sworn brother's blow their horn three times signalling the attackers were White Walkers, drawing his sword and running out onto the battlements to get a better look, Grenn nearly shat himself there and then for what he saw terrified him like nothing else ever could. Coming towards them was a host of wights numbering in the thousands and being led by Three White Walkers all of whom were riding what looked like unicorns.

The closer they got the more nervous Grenn got as he waited for old man Pyke to bellow the command to unleash the fire, when the command finally came the undead army was roughly 100 yards away, the fire torches and barrels fell into the oil covered trenches in front of the wall and instantly lit up like a fireworks display, and it seemed that this drew the wights closer to them instead of away or maybe that was just because they had been running in that undead like state of theirs, and so it was with some grim satisfaction that Grenn saw the flames engulf the first hundreds of wights that did not stop before the flames, as their bodies were turned to ashes, more wights soon joined them until there was a huge pile of ash at the foot of the Wall in front of Eastwatch. This however, did not seem to disturb the White Walkers for though their army of thousands had been steadily reduced to a pathetic mess of undead creatures that were stumbling down to their deaths as the sun slowly rose up, Grenn saw a giant undead bear storming toward the Wall, and as the bear passed unscathed through the fire trenches at the front of the Wall and got up onto its hind legs Grenn saw that the bear was in fact freakishly tall, and had little to no trouble clawing a few of the men who had gotten too close to the edge of the wall to their deaths, and it seemed determined on getting on to the wall itself, Grenn could only hope and pray that it did not succeed.

**King's Landing**

Dire news from the wall, legends come to life. Dire news from Pentos Illyrio, Varys's longest friend dead, executed for treason by Danaerys Targaryen. Dire news from his sources in the Vale Littlefinger had struck a bargain with Danaerys Targaryen, the swords of the Vale would go to her in exchange for his son by Lysa Arryn to be formally acknowledged as Robert Arryn's heir, and Sansa Tyrell's hand in marriage, Lysa Arryn it seemed was unaware of her husband's plots but Varys was convinced that Littlefinger would be a wife short by the time Danaerys Targaryen finally landed in Westeros. Varys was doing all he could to try and prevent her arrival in Westeros- Gulltown it was whispered- but so far to no avail, even his littlebirds still across the narrow sea reported that the Crow's Eye had been killing of most of his crew on the Silence and was capturing more and more ships everyday to add to his fleet to possible engage in an invasion at multiple points or if he was truly as devious as they said, directly at King's Landing, with Danaerys dragons as big as they were they could easily take the capital.

So Varys was slightly relieved and slightly apprehensive when King Aegon came to him one day after a small council session and asked him what he knew about the history of Dragonstone. Varys had always suspected that perhaps the Targaryens under Aegon the Unlikely had kept a stash of dragon eggs deep within their ancestral seat; the problem was even if the eggs hatched they would not be big enough to engage in proper combat with Danaerys' dragons. When Varys pointed this out to Aegon, his king had merely smiled and said but what if there were already fully grown dragons still there, to which Varys had replied that it was impossible, King Aegon had merely smiled and showed him the page from a book on the Valyrian Freehold which detailed how the castle of Dragonstone had been raised, how three dragons had given their lives and blood to the castle and how only the blood of royalty could reawaken them along with the blood of old Valryia. It was then that Aegon had suggested bringing the Kingslayer out of his imprisonment and using him to reawaken the dragons there, for Jamie Lannister had in him the blood of the kings of the Rock, and Stannis Baratheon's red woman, the Lady Melisandre had been found and held captive in the cells of Dragonstone roughly two weeks ago according to the castellan there. Aegon proposed a sacrifice blood for blood, on a pyre lit by fire in the bowels of Dragonmont, the legendary volcano that had been stirred from its 500 year slumber by the presence of blood of the dragon. The idea sounded crazy, but it was their only hope, Aegon would need dragons to defend his hard fought throne, Westeros would need dragons to help defeat an evil that threatened at the Wall. It just happened that the dragon that Aegon wished to awaken was the dragon that Varys had grown up hearing frightening tales about as a child in Lys, tales of the great dragon Arydian whom had been born during the Long Night legends told, dragon to the last hero, slayer of lies and burner of hate, Arydian with wings and scales as a summer sky or the waves of an ocean as blue and as clear and pure as the water that flowed in the rivers of Varys' childhood. Arydian the dragon who had raised the Freehold and had raised the Valryia from a smoking ruin, and whom had contributed to the doom though by that time had been firmly ensconced in stone on Dragonstone. The dragon if awoken would help Aegon's cause very much so, but could also engulf Aegon if he was not careful, for the sake of the whole of Westeros Varys hoped he was careful.

**The Citadel**

The bells in Oldtown rang from dawn till dusk, the Voice of Oldtown Leyton Hightower, Lord of the Hightower was celebrating the birth of his first great grandchild, Eddard Tyrell had his mother's Tully Auburn hair and his father's hazel eyes and it seemed was a light in the darkness of Winter which had firmly hit the Reach a few months ago and had it now firmly by the balls. Whilst Samwell was happy for Lord Willas and Lady Sansa, he was not overtly concerned about what the child's birth could signal for the rest of Westeros. Only because he had more important work to do, that could help save Westeros.

He had been in Oldtown and in the Citadel for roughly seven moons now, and in that time had come to learn a great deal about the art and craft that went into becoming a maester, he had managed to also somehow forge three links in his chain during his time here, much to the envy of many of his fellow apprentices. He had spent much time in the great library of the Citadel where every book written since the Andals had first put quill to paper was stored. The particular book he was reading was just what he had been sent to Oldtown for by Jon, and he felt some relief at finding it.

_The Wall, legend has stated that it was raised some 8,000 years ago by one Brandon the builder- also the founder of House Stark- for unknown purposes. Some of the most ancient scriptures found in the archives of the Night's Watch state that the Wall was raised in the aftermath of the Long Night, and the death of the Last Hero. The Long Night of course was the war between the White Walkers and the People of Westeros, the battle finally ending when the Last Hero of unknown origin defeated the king of the White Walkers. However, it is believed that the strength of the white walkers lays in two horns- the horn of winter and the horn of the dawn. To keep the wall standing the two horns must be together in Castle Black, but have not been since the days of Beron the Brave. Joramun the wildling it is said in fable blew the horn and woke the giants of winter. Joramun._

Sam quickly closed the book as he heard footsteps approaching, he had found what he needed sneaking the book under his robes for later reading, he hurried back to his chambers, Jon would need to know about this.


	30. Chapter 30

**One Month Later**

**Border Lands between Thenn and the Lands of Always Winter**

One thing Edwyn had noticed since coming north of the wall was that the further north their party marched the more bleak and depressing the landscape became, with no visible sign of human or even animal life on the land it was as if the White Walkers had consumed all possibility of summer and now firmly had the lands in Winter's cold embrace. Since the battle of Thenn where their party had been attacked by thousands of wights and two- just two- white walkers, Edwyn had seen firsthand the type of damage that the White Walkers could cause, they had used the wights as a diversion tactic, causing the men to throw themselves at the wights at their full strength in the hopes of breaking themselves against the undead creatures, when it had appeared that this would be the case the two white walkers had appeared from wherever they had been fighting and had immediately changed the tide of the battle, causing the death toll to instantly pile up and bathe the snow lands of Thenn in more and more human blood. Eventually though they had been driven back, whether it was because of the huge trench fire that some of the men had managed to create or if it was because of the attack of two Valyrian swords Edwyn did not know, for he had only learnt of the death of one of the white walkers after waking some days later in his tent to discover what had happened. They had managed to largely end the wights advance and had even managed to kill one of the two white walkers who had been part of the assault but not before the remaining white walker had killed more men and had said the name Joramun, before fleeing. The remaining soldiers all tried to work together to figure out what the name could mean but so far all they could come up with was the name Joramun from the ancient northern fable of a man (a wildling really) called Joramun who blew the horn of winter and woke the giants from the earth, but of course many still dismissed that fable as simply being that a fable, besides according to both Jon and Mance, no one had found the Horn of Winter in millennia, if it had even existed in the first place so, whom this Joramun that the white walker spoke of was none to clear.

Edwyn's thoughts soon drifted toward the number of casualties that they had had since this ranging had begun some four moons ago, at the Fist of the First Men loyal men of the Night's Watch had died by the hundreds, at the Battle of Thenn hundreds of more men had died including several loyal Northmen such as Galbert Glover, Alysanne Mormont, Rod Flint, Theo Norrey and Leobald Tallhart. Their bodies had been burnt in a massive pyre alongside the bodies of wildlings and brothers of the nights watch and their ashes buried in the ground. Since then there had been little conversation amongst the men or Edwyn and Jon, all were focussed simply on surviving the day to see what little light they could the next day, for the further north they marched, the less sunlight they saw and the darker the days became. It was almost as if the legends of the Long Night had become true, it certainly seemed that way what with the freezing cold and the snow, Edwyn was half surprised that they hadn't lost more men to frostbite and hypothermia than to battle. Of course Edwyn did suspect that Howland and his fellow cranongmen may have had something to with that, for Edwyn had seen them muttering what seemed to Edwyn's ears to be spells but then again he thought that may just be the cold making him hear things.

Edwyn's thoughts then turned to the conversation he had had with Howland Reed just after the battle of Thenn, Howland had been curious as to whether or not Edwyn planned on telling Jon the truth of his parentage, and when Edwyn had replied that he did not know whether he was the right person to do so or whether or not it was the right time to drop such a bombshell on to the man he still thought of as his brother, Howland had merely smiled that enigmatic smile of his and said that whilst it was Edwyn's choice he may not have the opportunity to do so again, which had of course sounded rather ominous to Edwyn and so he had spent the past few days on their trek to try and muster the courage to speak to Jon about his parentage and had failed miserably each time. The only other thing apart from speaking to Jon that was currently occupying Edwyn's thoughts as his horse continued trotting along was of Winterfell and of his family, and most importantly of Margaery. If he remembered correctly she would be due to give birth very soon or may have already given birth. Before they had returned to Winterfell in the quiet of their tent at night they had agreed to name their child if it was a boy Ronnel for one of Edwyn's heroes as a child, and if it were a girl they would name her Rosemary. Edwyn deeply wished that he could be there to see his little boy or girl enter the world, he knew that his father had not been present for his and Robb's birth and that had been something he had deeply regretted, it now appeared that Edwyn would be about experience something similar, he only hoped that this would be the last time that he would have to venture away from Winterfell for battle.

**Winterfell**

Catelyn Stark sat in her good daughter's chambers and held her hand as she pushed and panted her way through labour. They were all waiting for Edwyn and Margaery's little child to be born. Margaery had entered into labour earlier that day and so far had been in labour for roughly three hours now, it was entirely alarming but it was beginning to worry Catelyn. She remembered all of her times giving birth and the longest by far had been Arya, her little wildling princess had stubbornly refused to come out and so Catelyn had laboured for half the day. With her thoughts now on her children she wondered how they were coping she had instructed Brienne to keep Arya and Rickon busy during Margaery's labour lest they get needlessly worried and complicate matters. Since returning to Winterfell not much had needed to be done for Catelyn what with Margaery proving to be an able and capable Lady of Winterfell and Queen, Catelyn's expected burden had been lessened considerably allowing her to spend more time with her children and try as best as she could to make up for the past three years.

It helped she supposed that Margaery was well liked by the people of Winterfell and that she had openly tried to get accustomed to the way of the North as well as the fact that Edwyn was clearly smitten with her, which of course made it that much more easier for the people to accept her, as she had according to them earned the "North's Approval."

A sharp cry brought Catelyn back to the present and as she heard Maester Luwin say "Just once more your grace and the baby shall be here just one more big push." Catelyn felt Margaery's grip on her hand tighten and as she let out a sharp cry, she saw rather than heard Maester Luwin say "I can see the head your grace just a little more." This was soon followed by an almighty push by Margaery followed by her breathing a sigh of relief and then the room echoed with the cries of the newborn infant.

"It's a boy your grace." She heard Maester Luwin say as he handed the babe to Margaery. "What will you call him."

As she watched Margaery look at her child with loving eyes Catelyn could have sworn she heard a tremble in the girl's voice as she said "Ronnel, Prince Ronnel Stark."

**Shadow Tower**

Blood on the ground, Blood on the walls, blood on his sword, and blood on his chest there was blood everywhere as far as Jon Umber, Lord of Last Hearth could tell. They had been locked in a fierce fight with the white walkers and the wights for several weeks now, each time there was a lull in the fighting the men would regroup and try and recover only for the fighting to begin again this time a hundred times more fierce. It was tiring and Jon Umber, not a man known for calling for patience and rest, sorely wished for those two things just now. But of course they were luxuries he and his men could ill afford largely due to the fact that the commander of the Shadow Tower Denys Mallister was rather ineffective and a bit of a poof, his defences had been weak and had been shattered rather easily allowing the wights to breach the walls and reap havoc amongst the men. They had only been able to contain the slaughter by building trenches of fire that either scared the wights away or burnt them and reduced them to ash if they came to close. Of the White Walkers it seemed that they were undefeatable, they killed and ran rampant, but only in front of the wall for they were unable to cross the wall for whatever reason, not that Jon was complaining, he just found it curious that the creatures who were impervious to fire and to the cold could not get past a bloomin' old wall that seemed with every passing day as if it was creaking and ready to break at any moment. At present Jon Umber could find no way for him and his men to emerge triumphant from this, he couldn't even make the uncertainty seem laughable and that scared him more than anything else could.

**Cave of the Three Eyed Crow**

_The Broken boy dreamed, he always dreamed now ever since his friend the boy had died all he could do to find solace was dream for his lady friend the boy's sister would not speak to him, the three eyed crow said that was a form of mourning and that it would pass, the broke boy sorely hoped so. This dream was not like any other, there was lots and lots of noise a mixture of roaring and screaming and shrieking. There was lots of blood as well, blood on the ground, on the walls and on the men and women who fought, they were bathed in it. Fighting the dead things that lurked outside of this cave, fighting them on the wall fighting them on the ground, the men and women fought and died, no one could survive going against such things. But one man could, this man stood taller than the rest with his dark curly hair and grey eyes, the broke boy recognised him but could not place the face to a name. The dark haired man continued to stand and fight the dead things his sword aflame whilst all around him died and became part of the ground, their visions and hopes part of the trees. This man continued to fight and soon found himself face to face with the one who ruled over the dead things the one who blew the horn in a long a go age. The man and the creature danced the dance of swords and nicked and cut each other drawing red and blue onto the ground, until both battered and bruised the man with the dark hair joined with the green ice dragon and became his true self and bathed the creature in flame of breath and sword, the creature fell down dead but so too did the man, for life can only be paid for by death._

**Dragonstone**

Dragonmont grumbled like an angry dragon, fitting Jamie thought considering what it was about to be used for. Jamie had just become aware of why he had been brought from his cell in the Riverrun dungeons and why instead of seeming gloating Edmure Tully had seemed more concerned, for he was to be used as part of a blood ritual to awaken the stone dragons that were all over the castle. Jamie thought that the plan was mad and had said so on many occasions since on the boat to Dragonstone and on the way to the base of the mountain and till he had been chained to a roaster set on the base of the volcano tied next to Stannis Baratheon's red woman Melisandre of Asshai. The heat was painful but Jamie was determined not to give the Targaryen boy any pleasure of seeing the Kingslayer in distress, though Jamie thought it curious that the boy did not seem to have the look of a person who was about to achieve their goals, he seemed more worried and concerned than anything but then again Jamie supposed that might be more to do with the fact that if this ritual worked and the dragons awoke they might actually burn the boy and his companions alive.

Jamie's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the priest begin to speak "Father judge us justly for what we are about to do today. Crone light our way and lead us from the path of darkness. Warrior give strength to his grace King Aegon so he may be successful. In light of the seven hear our prayer."

The words were echoed by the assembled on lookers, the flames began to lick Jamie's back, Dragonmont grumbled some more. The Priest continued "In the name of the father, the mother, the crone, the warrior, the smith, the maiden, the stranger, the old gods and the drowned god we give these two lives so that one may live again."

Jamie felt the flames shoot up and engulf his body now the urge to scream became stronger. Obscenely he wondered whether Tyrion was amongst the onlookers gathered near his funeral pyre, he wondered if his little brother had tried to stop this from happening or if he had not even bothered too. The flames were getting hotter, Dragonmont was grumbling and shook, and Jamie through the haze of the flames saw lava quickly falling from the volcanoes' peak and quickly cascading down toward him, he heard through the flicker of the flames the voice of the boy say "To make the offering complete I, King Aegon Targaryen Sixth of his name do offer my blood to awaken the dragon god Arydian the Blue." The boy had obviously added something to the flames for they shot up and engulfed Jamie even further, that drew a scream from him and from the Red Woman, as the lava came thundering down toward him, Jamie could have sworn he heard the stones grinding together as if in movement and as the lava hit him and the world went black Jamie could have sworn he heard a dragon's roar echoing throughout the island.


	31. Chapter 31

**4 Months Later**

**The Lands of Always Winter**

The cold and the snow made it hard to lift a sword, but Edwyn Stark and his two companions including his bastard half brother- no cousin- Jon Snow continued lifting their swords and cutting down enemies till they could do so no longer. Their entry into the Lands of the Others had not been without event, for upon entering the lands they had been attacked by a horde of some 300 wights and ten white walkers, the force of that attack had killed the majority of the remaining men that had accompanied Edwyn and Jon on their ranging beyond the wall, leaving just seven men behind. Jon himself had fallen to the attack receiving multiple wounds in the chest; he had been brought back to life on the pyre that Edwyn had made for him and the other men, as well as for Ghost. Jon had risen out of the flames with Longclaw glowing in his hand, and a green scaled dragon had accompanied them ever since that day.

This current battle was against only three White Walkers, but it appeared that one of them was the King of the creatures if the crown on his head was any indication. As Edwyn and his companions drew their blades the King of the horrific beasts spoke "You have done well to have come so far earthlings. No man has set foot in our lands for many millennia. It seems such a shame that you shall have to die now."

Edwyn curious as to who or what these creatures were said "But why do you insist on killing what drives you to do so?"

The King of the White Walkers smiled a sad smile and said " I was once like you and your companions Edwyn Stark. I was once a man who had noble ideas and wished to be part of a noble cause. My people were a simple one; we dealt with other similar people in the lands north of Winterfell. Yet as I grew up the one thing I could never truly understand was why the seven hundred feet high ice sculpture that you kneelers call the Wall stood, and why every time my people tried to cross it we would be repelled by the forces that guarded it most diligently. It was after my father was killed in such an attempt, that I finally decided that enough was enough, and gathering all of the free fold together I declared myself a king and marched south toward the wall, the battle we fought at the Wall was a bloody one, many free folk and kneelers alike died that day, and my attempt at winning our freedom was unsuccessful. Beaten I retreated with two of my closest companions, my wife and my brother and we retreated north toward the lands where no man has dwelt since the dawn of time. It was whilst we were wandering these lands that we discovered a horn, and not just any horn, this horn seemed to have mythical properties and was inscribed with the runes of the First Men, curious as to what this horn was and what it could do, I blew it. But for my curiosity I paid a heavy price, for the guardian of the horn then emerged from the cave and changed me and my two companions, and charged us with protecting the horn, and said that a time would come when it would need to be blown, he did not state when that time would be. So over the centuries we waited and waited then one day many centuries ago, a time arose the free folk and kneelers alike had grown complacent and had forgotten the terrors of the dark, following my gut I blew the horn, and was answered by the awakening of giants. Do you know who I am now Edwyn of House Stark?"

Edwyn was rendered speechless by what the King of Death had told him and from his companions silence he knew they were as well, eventually it was Jon who broke the silence and said softly "Joramun, you are Joramun and you blew the horn of winter that woke the giants from their slumber."

The King of the White Walkers gave yet another sad smile and said "Yes, Yes I am him I am Joramun, and I did blow the horn. But Joramun was the name I went by in a previous life many centuries ago Jon Snow, I am not Joramun anymore. I am the King of the White Walkers I am the King of Ice, I am Death, Destroyer of Worlds."

With that he stopped speaking and drew his blade and the fighting began.

A harsh and high pitched cry to his left, found him face to face with one of the White Walkers who took on Edwyn. Time seemed to stand still for Edwyn as he watched and waited for the White Walker to reach him, his whole instinct was telling him to flee, it was as if on some primal level his body knew that in the past such an oncoming attack would have led to certain death. There was no time for Edwyn to consider fleeing though for soon time regained its frantic pace and soon Edwyn found his and the White Walker's blades clashing and clashing again with both fighters unwilling to give purchase or ground to the other attacker. This continued for what seemed like hours, Edwyn could feel his muscles beginning to tire, could feel them beginning to groan in protest to the continued strain he was putting them under for what seemed like little reward, until he noticed an opening between the creature's neck and shoulder plate. Finding his chance, Edwyn went straight for its throat and dug his sword in just about deep enough to see the blood trickling out of a wound big enough to cause death. The creature fell to its knees screeching whilst a blue like substance oozed out of the cut and eventually it collapsed dead. With the White Walker he had been fighting dead, Edwyn had a chance to assess the situation around him, he saw Jon battling the King of the White Walkers, with his dragon companion helping him by breathing fire onto the creature. He seemed to be doing relatively well, so Edwyn turned round to look for Lord Howland, and found him lying unseeingly on the ground, he had been killed by the White Walker that he had been fighting, but not before he had managed to burn it severly. The creature Edwyn now realised was staggering blindly toward him. Raising his sword tiredly Edwyn managed a couple of swings before the creature fell down dead and quickly burnt to dust.

* * *

Jon stood face to face with the Great Other with Longclaw drawn, this was it this was the final battle, if he won this battle dawn would come and the Long Night would be over.

If he lost, well he wouldn't be alive to suffer the consequences, but Edwyn and everyone else he cared about who lived would, and that was something Jon couldn't let happen, this had to end now.

The Great Other had already killed Rhaegal, had killed him with a simple sweep of its hands, but somehow Jon had survived. It mattered not now, for as Jon saw the Great Other advance forward, he saw that it wielded a very large greatsword that had runes of the First Men, the letters of the Andals and the songs of the Children written on it.

All other thoughts were wiped from Jon's mind when the creature took its first swing and the force of blow on Longclaw, caused Jon to wince with pain. He returned the favour but instead of striking sword, struck skin, and saw the creature grimace in pain. He quickly felt pain of his own as the creature soon began opening gashes and cuts all across Jon's skin, though Jon managed to return the favour he could tell that he was beginning to weaken. Yet still felt the strength to carry on, parrying blow after the blow with the creature until they both seemed out of breath, with both combatants managing to land blows on other so that by the time Jon found a chink in the creature's armour between its arm and chest where a slim hole was visible they were both covered in bruises and oozing blood red and blue respectively. Jon knew his strength was failing him and so making his decision, Jon thrust his sword toward that gap catching the creature unawares, and when he felt Longclaw connect with that gap of skin, he felt the Great Other give a cry of pain, that soon turned into one of complete anguish, as Jon saw with his own eyes as the creature began to dissolve and white blood began to fall to the ground. He pulled his sword out of the creature and found it covered with white and blue blood and when he had finished looking at the sword and looked to where the Great Other had been, found nothing except a crown of bones. Jon Snow however, quickly began to weaken and saw that blood was pouring out of several gashes in his armour, the world quickly began turning dark and as Jon fell to his knees next to the crown of the Great Other, he heard his brother's voice echoing inside his head and in the distance, crying out for him to remain standing and to remain awake but Jon felt tired and he sorely wished to sleep now.

* * *

Whilst Jon and Edwyn fought the King of the White Walkers in the Land of Always Winter, battle raged on at the Shadow Tower and Eastwatch by Sea. The Nights Watch and Northern Forces had been bolstered by the arrival of southern forces led by King Aegon Targaryen and his dragon Arydian. The forces of the Riverlands and the Stormlands fought at the Shadow Tower alongside the Nights Watchmen commanded by Ser Denys Mallister and the Northmen commanded by Lord Umber, they continued to fight the wights on the wall and on the ground, and fought with lit swords and torches and saw with some delight how the number of wights seemed to be reducing greatly, and when the first rays of sunlight were pointed out by a man on one of the higher towers the men began to hope, a hope which was increased when they saw the White Walkers begin to dissolve into dust, and the wights begin to fall down and remain dead. A sight that was echoed at Eastwatch where the Nights Watchmen and the Northerners were joined by southern forces led by King Aegon Targaryen and his giant dragon Arydian, the men's spirits were lifted as they saw Arydian burn wights by the thousands, and as Aegon jumped off of Arydian's back and cut his way through to the White Walkers in command of the assault and managed to fell them, the first rays of sunlight were seen in East Watch by Sea for the first time in a year. By the time the sun had managed to pierce through the mist the White Walkers at both Eastwatch and Shadow Tower had either been dissolved to dust or killed. The armies of Westeros cheered their victory and prepared for an almighty feast, for the Song of Ice and Fire had been complete.

* * *

Though Westeros was not done with war for at the exact moment that Jon Snow killed the king of the White Walkers and the sun and Aegon Targaryen helped defeat the White Walkers at Eastwatch and the Shadow Tower, Danaerys Targaryen landed in Gulltown in the Vale, alongside her husband, a thousand Ironborn, nine thousand unsullied, two of her three dragons and 20,000 men in the form of sellsword companies. She was greeted upon disembarking by Lord Baelish the serving Lord Protector of the Vale following his wife's untimely death from a fever a few months prior. As Lord Baelish greeted the woman he would call Queen, he led her down the pier to Lord Grafton's grounds where the men of the Vale all 35,000 of them plus their Lords had mustered some willingly others reluctantly, to pledge their fealty to the Mother of Dragons, and assist her in any way they could in helping her get the Iron Throne.


	32. A Brief Epilogue for Night of the Wolf

5000 men rode north with King Edwyn Stark to the Wall to aid the Night's Watch against threats long thought dead, only 500 men returned. The casualties were numerous amongst them were several major Northern Lords and their heirs including: Galbert Glover, Alysanne Mormont, Ned Wull, Rod Flint, Rodrik Ryswell, Roger Ryswell, Rickard Ryswell, Hothar Umber, Mors Umber, Howland Reed, Arnolf Karstark, Arthor Karstark and his three sons, Leobald Tallhart and Lord Locke.

Edwyn Stark is the only person of his party that rode north of the wall to return back alive. Many of the group were killed in the fights at Thenn, the Fist of the First Men, the Frostfangs as well as at the Land of Always Winter. Howland Reed the man who fought alongside Eddard Stark at the Tower of Joy and whom had become like a father figure to Edwyn during their time together died fighting a White Walker, his children Meera and Jojen Reed lost to him before his death. Edwyn and Jon manage to retreat to a cave, the same cave where Joramun found the Horn of Winter all those centuries ago, Jon Snow dies in that cave of his injuries and his body is later burnt in a pyre by Edwyn alongside the dragon Rhaegal who had fought alongside Jon during the final battle. The fire from the pyre attracts Meera Reed who had been sent back south by Bloodraven to tell Edwyn not to look for Bran and to leave him to his life as a tree. Together Edwyn and Meera find their way back to Castle Black where Edwyn finds his remaining bannermen as well as the southern forces waiting for him.

It is at Castle Black that Edwyn and Aegon hammer out the terms for the future of the Seven Kingdoms. It is agreed that Edwyn shall remain King of the North and will hold domain of all lands from the Neck to the Wall (Which Still stands), it is also agreed with the consent of Lord Edmure Tully and the rest of the riverlords that the Riverlands are too valuable a kingdom and the kingdom most likely to suffer in times of war to risk being part of Edwyn's kingship, and so the Riverlands become part of Aegon's kingdom, and Aegon is formally recognised by all present as King of the South which contains The Westerlands, The Riverlands, The Reach, The Stormlands, Dorne and the Vale.

Once that has been agreed upon the men spend another week at Castle Black debating how best to deal with the oncoming threat of Danaerys Targaryen and her madness, before retreating back to their various holdings to see through the rest of Winter.


End file.
